New Life, New Caprica
by Child-of-the-Dawn
Summary: A/R. One choice changes the world. The events of New Caprica if Bill and Laura had tied to knot.
1. Chapter 1

Title: New Life, New Caprica

Genre: Drama/Romance/Angst

Rating: K +

Alt!Universe Y/N?: from the groundbreaking ceremony on New Caprica onward.

Characters: Most of Galactica's crew, mainly Adama, Roslin, Tigh, Lee, and Kara

Pairings: Mainly A/R, little L/K

Status: fic in progress

Chapter 1: An Officer's Proposal

"You are out of your fraking mind."

Adama resisted rolling his eyes at his old friend, just barely, as Saul Tigh gaped at him or, more appropriately, at what he carried in his left hand.

The ring was a slim band of gold in which someone had set a sapphire. It was roughly made, but elegant in it's own right, the result of a lot of searching and one generously donated earing. It had even looked to be sized for the small, delicate finger it would hopefully adorn that day, as the way it was battered into form suggested.

"And why is that?"

"You're thinking of marrying the woman everyone is going to want back as President once they realize what a fraked up moron Baltar is. Don't you think thats a problem?"

"We don't know that for sure, and if they want her, well they'll have to decide if they can trust us. But Saul..." Adama sighed. His mind wasn't even really with the conversation, so he didn't quite know what to say to vocalize his feelings on the somewhat tricky situation of wanting to marry Laura Roslin.

He instead saw her red skirt and wrap in his mind, her smile, the way they danced at the groundbreaking ceremony before his crew, her laugh and how wonderful she'd felt curled up next to him that night they both got stoned out of their minds.

And to be honest, what he planned had been building since they sat near each other in that camp on Kobol. Having her so close, waking from sleep to find her still dreaming, had sparked something in him. He remembered her face, calm despite the mass of damp auburn hair around her face, and how he'd suddenly realized how long it'd been since he'd woken near the soothing presence of a woman. The groundbreaking had only finalized his feelings for her, feelings he had long sensed she shared.

"Oh what am I doing, trying to talk to you with that look in your eye. How long?" Saul said with a sigh, flopping down into the only chair in his tent.

"Kobol."

Saul smirked," Right. Like you weren't checking her legs out too before the worlds went to shit." He laughed loudly when his old friend threw him a look of shock, stopping to wipe a tear from his eye.

"You son of a.." Adama started, only to break into a grin.

"Just...go do it before Ellen gets back and tells the whole planet before that ring is on the lady's finger. I'm going back up to Galactica, since someone will have to run the ship for a week or two!" He laughed again, loudly and with abandon at the redness that had suddenly colored the Admiral's cheeks at his pronouncement. Stopping at the tent flap, Saul Tigh took a look back at his long time friend and calmed down a bit, a small smile gracing his worn features.

"And Bill?"

"Yeah?"

"I hope it works out."

Saul left and William Adama looked down at the ring he hoped would be on Laura's finger by noon. For the first time since he was a child, he looked up towards the sky beyond the tent's roof and said a prayer.

"Lords of Kobol...hear me..."

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*

Laura Roslin felt giddy. Perhaps it was the sun, or the warmth of the day, or even the remnants of her high. More than likely, thought, it was the alcohol she'd consumed in a misguided attempt to prove to a group of Viper pilots that their 'old lady' could drink them under the table.

She looked back, grinning at Anders, Tori, and three pilots she didn't know the names of. Poor little children, but they shouldn't of tried to outdo a Roslin in the drinking department. She made a mental note to challenge Saul Tigh sometime.

"Good going, Ma'am." Spoke Kara from her seat at the edge of the outdoor canteen. She too looked a bit giddy with drink, but like Laura seemed to be able to control the effects a bit better than their unfortunate companions.

"Had an uncle in the Fleet. A Commander. Man taught his favorite niece a thing or two about drinking properly." She replied, taking a seat across from the ace pilot. Kara giggled a bit and shook her head.

"Would of liked to know that man. Sounds like my type of drinking buddy."

"He was."

The two women lapsed into silence, enjoying the feeling of just being there Laura had spoke of to the Admiral three days beforehand. The Admiral. Laura let out a sigh. Somehow between their first argument over the computer systems aboard Galactica and his appearance of Kobol, William Adama had become more to her than an Admiral should be to a President. And it scared her. She didn't do love, didn't let anyone posses her completely. It was why an affair with Richard Adar had worked so well, until his passions had overlapped into their political relationship. To love Adama would allow no classifying, no borders in her heart. He was a man who deserved no less than the full support of a partner, and she feared not being able to be that.

"I saw you the other night, you know." Kara said suddenly. Laura turned to see the younger woman laying with her head cradled in her arms, face turned towards her.

"You and the old man. Since when do the former President and an Admiral get stoned? And Can I have some?" The childish pleading in her tone sent Laura into a giggle fit, partly shocked and partly amused at the young woman's guts.

She leaned sideways so as to whisper without being overheard, "Since the world went insane. And only if you can smoke it discreetly. He'd lecture me to second doomsday if he knew." Kara giggled in response and the women exchanged fond smiles. This planet really had done wonders for friendships (among other things) and she found her new status as a simple teacher had given her room to really know the crew of Galactica better.

"Uh oh, old man at two 'o clock." Kara whispered back, tossing her head towards the figure of Adama himself, who had turned around the corner and spotted them giggling.

Laura frowned after a moment. At first glance, she only saw her friend, military coat unbuttoned so that the typical undershirts of the Fleet were visible, and face set in a relaxed yet somehow alert expression.

Then she got a good look at his eyes. They were alight with emotion in a way his face never was. It was this that caused her to frown in curiosity.

"Thats a new expression." Said Kara in a low voice, cautious yet curious at the new sparkle his serious face was failing to suppress.

"Whaddya hear ladies?" He said, and Laura beamed with pleasure at being included into the long standing banter.

"Nothin' but the rain, sir." She and Kara said in perfect chorus, despite both women being somewhat drunk.

"The grab your gun—or your airlock switch—and bring in the cat." He replied without a thought.

Kara snorted at the addition, standing up to hug her CO before pouring a third glass of Ambrosia from the carafe on the table behind them and inviting him to sit.

"You're looking rather strange today. Not in a poor way though. Something up Admiral?" Laura said once they'd all taken a generous sip of their drinks.

Adama set that piercing look on her and she suddenly felt shivers crawl up her back. Yes, there was something different about the man today. Kara sensed it to, and turned her own gaze from her drink to her sort-of father. He stared back and Kara made an 'o' of surprise with her mouth. He smiled at her and made an odd expression and she grinned back.

"Ok, stop that you two. No psychic conversations." Laura laughed, waving her hand between them. She'd noticed it ages ago that the bond between pilot and officer ran deep, sometimes leading to them being able to read each other's thoughts by just the nuances of expression.

"I should go find Lee. If I'm this plastered, Gods know he's worse." Kara said, rising from her seat with a yawn.

" See you both later?"

"Mnn..yeah. Go sober up, Kara." Laura replied. The young pilot saluted them both before walking somewhat unsteadily towards the tents in search of Lee and their friends.

"So whats with you today, Admiral?" She said once Kara was out of earshot.

"I.." He said, then trailed off, looking suddenly nervous," I'm not entirely certain."

She giggled, feeling the effects of her victory begin to lay a bit heavier on her body, "The Great William Adama, speechless. The world has ended once again."

He shot her a look, which softened after a moment. He reached out and cupped her cheek in one calloused hand. Laura's breath left her at the feel of his hand; he'd never done something so obvious in public before, though that may have been due to the people around them being either asleep or in a drunken stupor. At that moment, she really didn't care.

"You may want to save that for about...a minute. Laura..look down." She did so, the gentle smile on her face slipping into an expression of shock. It sent a warm, tingly feeling down Adama's body to see the delighted look of surprise shining in her gray-green eyes.

The ring sat atop the back of her free hand.

"Laura Roslin...marry me." He whispered, taking the ring between his thumb and forefinger and lifting her hand up. He kept the ring poised on the tip of her fingernail and stared into her eyes once she'd recovered enough to move.

"Bill...oh gods..." She stammered.

"Say yes?"

"Gods...yes. Yes!" The ring slipped on her hand and both of them looked down to watch her adjust it on her ring finger. A perfect match. She looked back up at him, tears beginning to seep out her eyes.

"I love you, Laura." He said, swallowing down his nerves and reaching out to wipe her tears away with a kiss to the cheek.

".Gods." The newly engaged couple jumped apart at the sound of Kara's voice. Both turned, blushing, to the mortifying sight of Kara, Gaeta, and a drunk (yet still conscious and gaping) Lee all staring at them.

"Lee Adama's getting a new mommy!" Kara laughed, patting Lee on the back. The Admiral's son just stared at his father and his former president dumbly.

Bill felt his nerves return in full force as he stared back at his son. He hadn't even thought to talk to Lee first. What would his son think? Would Lee be angry? Amused? Would he see this as his father's latest reckless move?

He didn't say it, but the thought of Lee being upset would hurt more than his son could know.

"Well, Lee, you going to wish your dad congrats or am I going to have to deal with your emo ass for the next however many years? Cuz, honestly, my husband is enough trouble."

"I.." Lee said, looking from one of them to the other," Wow." He finished lamely. Laura giggled in response and then Lee smiled.

"So...whens the wedding?"


	2. Chapter 2

New Life, New Caprica

Chapter 2: A People's Celebration

Saul Tigh stretched out beside his wife on their hastily created bed, enjoying the silence of the morning for once in longer than he could remember.

"So where were you this morning? Earlier, I mean." Ellen said softly, bracing herself on one elbow.

"Went to try to talk Bill out of something."

"Did it work?"

"No, but I'm kind of glad it didn't. He deserves something that good." He replied, thinking of Bill's smile whenever he was down on Caprica and knowing it was Laura who made the man look twenty years younger with a spring in his step.

"What is it?" Ellen asked, cuddling up to him.

"I promised I wouldn't tell you."

"Saul!" She whined.

"You're a chatterbox and you know it. But don't worry, I thin---"

"Colonel!? Tigh, you decent?" Galen Tyrol's voice shouted through the tent materials. Tigh sighed and got up, as Ellen pulled a blanket around her shoulders.

"Yeah, what is it?" He said. A second later, Tyrol's shocked face poked through the flap.

"Mrs. Tigh." He nodded, then looked over at Tigh himself, "You're his XO, I'm going to assume you know. Rest of the village does."

"He's marrying Roslin. Yes, Chief. Glad to hear the news got around from them."

"Bill....and ROSLIN?!?!" Ellen gasped, looking from one man to another in shock," the Admiral and the President?"

"She isn't the President anymore, Ellen. Thats why he proposed." He could tell the same thought he had earlier was going through Ellen's head. But he was sick and tired of watching Bill hold the world on his shoulders while trying to deal with his inexpressible feelings for the now former President.

"Cally is outside. We're going to throw them a little surprise engagement party." Tyrol said, smiling a bit through his shock," its....well we need something to celebrate after all this time running."

"Good idea, Chief. I assume you need me to handle getting them there?"

"Yessir. Get them to the center square at dusk."

"Very well." Tight said. Tyrol nodded and dropped the flap. His and Cally's voices rose into the air as they pair walked away, ideas for where to get drinks and streamers thrown around in the temperate mid-morning air.

"He's marrying a woman everyone will want back in a few months." Ellen said from behind him. There was something like sadness in her voice, which made him turn to face her.

"I know," Tigh said, sitting back down," But on the heads of the people be it. If they hadn't voted for Baltar and believed all his shit about New Caprica, they'd be fine. But I'm not telling Bill its a bad idea again today. He's happy, Kara is thrilled, and Lee actually wants to embrace her as his stepmother. For the first time in Bill's whole fraking life, everything is going his way. I'm not stopping that."

"Then I guess I can only do one thing." Ellen said. At her husband's warning glare, she smiled sweetly, "do I wear the green dress or the red one?"

Somewhere else in the new village, a few soldiers from Galactica, Tory, and Kara Thrace-Anders

were busy adding streamers, tablecloths, and spare tiles to the center stage, where only the other day

they had celebrated the groundbreaking. Now they would celebrate the engagement of their long time leaders.

"Hey, Chief! Got that booze ready yet?" Called Kara from atop a ladder, "and please tell me the Old Ones don't know."

"Its ready. I asked Sam and a few Viper jocks to bring it over soon."

"Then get your ass up here and help us finish these streamers!"

Tyrol laughed and shook his head, turning to hand Cally a load of streamers to run along the sides of the dance floor as railing.

"I love you and your daft ideas, you know that?" He told her with a kiss. Cally laughed and playfully shoved his shoulder.

"Well, I think its really cute, those two." she replied," why not cheer about it?" He kissed the top of her head again and she wandered off to finish her task.

Tyrol smiled. His wife was right, and he intended to make it the reason for the biggest bash in Colonial history.

A sharp whistle made him turn to see Sam Anders, Racetrack, and Sharon ambling towards the central square, each with two large jugs in either hand. A third was strapped to Sam's back.

"Oh, this is going to get good."

Bill eyed his opponent over the chess pieces, a sly grin taking over his features as he ran over the few moves she had left.

"Checkmate." He blinked, incredulous. On the other side of the board, Laura was smirking at him as he began to try and understand the loss.

"How in the twelve colonies..."

"Get used to it, Bill." She said lightly, uncrossing then recrossing her legs," because you're going to be married to this situation soon."

He chuckled, a stay thought asking him what the hell he'd gotten himself into.

"Laura, Bill, you there?"

The two of them blinked at one another, the voice of Saul Tigh unexpected at her tent. Both stood and Laura pulled back the flap of her tent where the Colonel was standing, dressed in his greys.

"Hello, Saul."

"Colonel." Laura added warmly," what can we do for you?"

"Chief got some of his brew down here and we've got a surprise for him and Cally. Bit of a party, and it'd be a damn shame if you two missed it. Coming?"

Laura looked back at Bill a bit reluctantly, the idea of leaving their warm tent and their game for anything low on her list. But he was smiling softly at the idea of a party for two of his honorary children, and she had to smile too.

"Of course, let me go grab my coat." She said, excusing herself to grab the long woolen coat Bill had brought with him on his first visit down to New Caprica. Putting it on, she looped her arm through Bill's and the three of them meandered down the main "road", enjoying the rare feel of a temperate breeze in the dying light. The square was mostly empty when they arrived, but decorated with bright, colorful streamers and--

"Oh my Gods, Colonel!" Laura gasped, blushing yet smiling at a small sign posted against one of the dance floor's four posts that read 'Laura and Bill. About Time!!'. Beside her, realize he'd been fooled, Bill laughed and leaned of Saul for support.

"COME ON OUT YOU NUGGETS!" Barked Saul. As if by magic, people seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Cally holding extra streamers; Kara and Lee whooping and hollering; Sam beaming at them from beside a smirking Tori.

"Congrats, Admiral!" Someone called, backed up by the cheering of the crowd that was quickly forming in the square.

"I can't believe you lot." Bill laughed, blinking a bit more rapidly than normal. Laura's heart grew at his attempt to disguise tears. The crew around them were all beaming and cheering for their Old Man and Laura was surprised and overjoyed to notice many of the faces she knew from _Galactica_ also throwing smiles and cheers her way.

"Ok ok, settle down! Settle down!" Kara yelled, having climbed up on the dance floor. Everyone quieted down, turning their attention to her.

"First of all, ya'll owe me cubits for winning the pot." The crowd roared with laughter," Second..." Kara trailed off, eyes falling on the Admiral and Laura," Second...all my love to the best parents this Fleet could of asked for. This is for you, for everything. Just let me be head Bridesmaid and we're all good!"

Everyone cheered again as Laura blushed scarlet and turned her face into Bill's uniform collar. Bill, for his part, was smiling up at his heart's daughter, feeling more complete than he'd ever felt in all his life.

Lee stood now, next to Kara and beamed at them," To my father, who's come a long way, and to my stepmother-to-be, who once smiled at me through the grief of the attacks and called me her Captain Apollo."

He stepped down off the platform, offering one hand to his wife and the other to Kara. The three walked forward, Lee embracing Laura and Kara and Dee taking turns hugging Bill.

Bill pulled away and gazed round at his crew and his little family with pride. Then, seeing the barrels of Chief's moonshine, he grinned.

"Thank you..thank you all. But I know you didn't come just for us."

"Yeah, c'mon! Lets get this frakkin' thing started!!" Kara yelled, and made straight for the booze. Bill and Laura hung back as the others surged forward, watching their family as they laughed and celebrated.

"Some family." Laura whispered. Bill could only hum his agreement.


	3. Chapter 3

New Life, New Caprica ch 3

Ch 3: A Couple's Vow

The nighttime on New Caprica was all encompassing, the little village a star in the deepest reaches of space. Close to the edge of the village, a new tent had been erected, two smaller tents forming a larger home with merely an hour's skillful sewing.

Laura Roslin sat near the fire in the center of her new home. On the cot behind her, her husband-to-be slept, his deep snores giving her cause to smile. She'd soon be badgering him about that on a daily basis.

Laura sighed at the last two words. Happy as she was that he was coming down, with Saul offering to take a long few months with the Fleet, it pained her somewhat to see him separated from his dear ship. And, of course, her unease about their safety was cause to fret.

"You're doing it again."

Laura jumped, turning around to see that Bill had woken and was smirking at her.

"Doing what?"

"Overthinking. There is danger everywhere, Laura. And if it happens, I'd rather be there with you."

"Bill..."

"Laura, please sleep. Your immune system still isn't as strong as it once was. Get in here."

"Is that an order, Admiral?" She teased, feeling the dark thoughts drift away.

"You know it."

She laughed and got up, slipping into bed next to him and immediately feeling warmer than she'd been even with the strength of the flames near her in the hearth.

THREE DAYS LATER

"Oh my goodness...ladies I'm speechless."

Kara, Dee, Cally, and Tori all shared proud grins as they held up their handiwork. The silk of the dress shone in the light streaming through the fire vent in the ceiling and the intricate crochet of finely spun threads that lay over it in light lavender wove around the waist. Two tabards hung across the chest and wrapped around the waist in pure white, offsetting the cream color of the dress underneath. Laura could not believe her eyes.

"How did you ever find the material? And who can crochet?"

"We asked around. Few old grannies had some with them. They were happy to give us some material when we told them who it was for. And Dee can."

Dee blushed scarlet at the last of Cally's words, smiling softly and looking away.

"Starbuck helped...she designed it."

Laura blinked at the Viper pilot, "you design?"

"Not too far from painting..."Kara said, also turning a bit red.

They helped Laura into it and for the first time, standing in front of Kara's mirror, she felt like herself. It helped that the dress hugged her breasts, waist, and hips in all the right ways.

Dee turned to a box beside the tent's cot, pulling out something in a draw string bag and returning to where Laura stood, trying to find any bit of the President she had been in the soft, lovely woman staring back at her. There were her eyes, still sharp and powerful, but she noticed her long lashes for the first time in ages. Her face still had too many angles, but these were smoothed by the peaceful expression and lack of stress. She was Laura Estella Roslin once again, a woman she had long ago resigned to the days before her father and sisters were killed, someone who had never really come to be out of the child. She started when Dee and Cally moved to touch her hair, hands moving away and leaving small little pearls pinned to her long, wild hair.

"Got these from Ellen. Good thing she's a bit vain or she'd never of taken them." Kara quiped, coming to add a necklace to the ensemble.

"Made from Heart, Made from History, Made from Luck." Dee said, pointing to the dress, the necklace, and the pearls. She was quoting an old Aerilon phrase that tied together the love of friends and family, the importance of a past and culture, and the quirks of life.

"This was a necklace my father gave me. Its the sign of Delphi, the tripod the priestesses used to sit on to gain their secrets."

"Thank you, Kara." Laura said sincerely, knowing how close Mr. Thrace had been with his little girl," and someone remind me to thank Ellen. These are gorgeous."

"We about time, ladies?" Came a man's voice from outside. Sam Anders poked his head in and smiled broadly at the four of them, the others having already dressed in their only fancy clothes.

"You look lovely." He added to Laura. She smiled at him, suddenly nervous as the women around her nodded and began adjusting their own hair and clothes.

She was getting married. It really hadn't hit her until then. She was getting married to Bill, she was gaining two children and a name known throughout the Fleet. Her throat constricted and she began to shake slightly.

A warm hand slipped in hers. Laura looked up to see Kara smiling softly at her. She returned it, her nerves beginning to settle.

"Lets get you married, Laura."

"Lets." She replied.

Kara led her outside the tent, where they found none other than Jack Cottle waiting in his dress grays. He took her arm in his and the two began the walk down to the square.

"Here we go." Cottle said softly, startling her out of her haze.

Before them sat nearly all the crew of _Galactica _and some of the children Laura taught. Her nerves returned in full force as she looked over the crowd and up to where the priestess stood. Bill was on the woman's right with Saul, both in dress grays like Cottle.

He looked like something out of a dream. Younger, even more handsome than she'd ever thought before, face smoother and eyes deep blue in the sunlight. And he wanted to marry her. Wanted to be her husband even though there was no guarantee of her cancer staying away forever; same for the Cylons.

She reached out as soon as Cottle stopped moving, grasping Bill's arm as he pulled her up close. Beside him, Saul also looked younger, and happy as she had never seen him. Her eyes returned to Bill, though, and remained there even as Cottle moved away and the priestess began to speak.

"We stand here today for a momentous occurrence." She intoned, eyes sweeping across the crowd.

"Only a few years ago, the worlds as we knew them ended. And yet among the survivors two people fell in love and still brought us away from danger and gave us hope. For so long they have led us with little thought of themselves. But now we will see them joined as husband and wife, our blessing and thanks our greatest gift to their new lives together. Speak your vows, Laura Estella Roslin."

Laura took a shaky breath, fighting the sudden bout of giggles that threatened to spill into the air. She turned to Bill, her planned vow flying away as she took in the man she was giving the rest of her uncertain life to.

"When I set foot aboard _Galactica_, I had given up on myself, on my future. There was no fight in me. And then," she smirked at him," then I met the most stubborn man in the twelve colonies. I fought with him on nearly everything, and had to battle for respect from him. And it made me live. You, Bill, made me forget I was ill and reminded me that I was stronger than any illness.

Somewhere between those early days and our return from Kobol I fell in love with you. And now I give my days, every single one of them, to you as my husband."

She faltered, squeezing his hands in hers. The words hung in the air, full of every emotion she'd denied herself.

"And you, William Arthur Adama."

Bill cleared his throat, looking at her as if memorizing everything about her in one look.

"I cannot think of anything that sums up these past few years any better. But I've never thanked you for loving me, even though you saved me by doing so. You did more than I could have believed: I am alive because you convinced me to run, this Fleet is alive, my son is once again happy to have me for a father, and the daughter I never had believes in herself again. Thanks to you. You saved my life and my heart. So I give my days, every day, to you as my wife."

Her raised a hand to her cheek gently, heart soaring with the noise of contentment that it elicited in the back of her throat. Laura could only smile, eyes shimmering, as he removed the gold band from his finger and slid a smaller one onto hers. She in turn took a ring from the smiling priestess and replaced his old band with it. They were married.

"Let none here challenge this joy; Let no enemy mar this day, this great happiness. Let Athena, level-headed and wise, give her grace to this union. Let Eros support their hearts. And at the end of their days, let Persephone welcome them to Elysium, honored and loved. So say we all."

"So say we all," he murmured as the crowd joined in, and lent forward to kiss his wife.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Planet's Life

It was early morning still when Laura managed to drag herself out of bed and dress. She smiled to herself as she brushed out her hair in front of a small wall mirror she'd nabbed from _Colonial One _after loosing the election. She hadn't been about to let Baltar's vanity have any help.

She snorted loudly, then gasped and turned to see if her husband had stirred. Lucky for her, Bill apparently slept like a rock, and didn't even flinch. Laura smiled at him, his deep snores indicating just how late they were awake. A gentle blush rose up her neck at the thought.

Grabbing her basket, and pulling her mind out of her very nice gutter, she left a note for Bill on the dresser and turned up the tent flap into the cool morning air. Immediately, the sounds of the market crashed over her, so she dropped the flap secure and moved out down the road, her red skirt swishing about her ankles.

It was the first market after their wedding, so people were still beaming at her and each other like loons. Their marriage seemed to have breathed life into the community. Laura had to smile.

"Good morning, Mrs. Adama!" A woman called, one Laura vaguely remember as being a member of the press corp. She waved back with a smile and turned into the square with a full heart.

Mrs. Adama. A title she could still barely believe was attached to her. She could be told that up was down and have it sink in faster. But there was nothing sweeter than to hear those words.

"Morning, mom." Scratch that, nothing was better than the miracle of one single word.

"Lee." She said warmly, turning to hug her stepson as he and her daughter-in-law came around a corner," I'm so glad you came down!"

"Me too. Market looks almost like...fun." He replied, looking with interest at some of the native fruits that had been approved by the horticultural team.

"Liar. Men.." Dee said, shrugging," still have that aversion to shopping." Her husband scowled at her, but the two women only laugh louder together.

"Where is dad?"

"Asleep. About time he slept in." She said, hoping Lee didn't catch the sly look his wife was sending her.

But Lee, sweet, oblivious Lee didn't seem to see anything beyond her surface meaning and smiled at her. He really reminded her of Billy sometimes.

"I'll see you both later then?" Lee asked.

"How does dinner sound?"

"Great. See you." Lee replied, looking down at her with a strange sort of indecision. It was strange on his face, one she'd never seen before. After a long moment, however, the expression cleared and Lee leaned forward to place a polite kiss on her cheek. Blushing, he nodded his goodbye and steered a cooing Dee down a side street towards a cloth-seller's booth.

Laura was struck dumb for a moment by the unexpectedly sweet goodbye. She'd been given similar goodbyes before from much younger youth during her years as a teacher, but there were no words for the joy that small bit of acceptance brought her.

Looking around at the various booths, she managed to trade a few of her well-made cigars for some fruits and, in a moment of girlishness, a top she knew Bill would love to see her in. She held it up to herself, amazed at the soft feel of the pale pink cloth. She complimented the old woman who had made it. The poor lady was immediately beside herself, flattered beyond belief that the "true President" would like her wares so much.

"He'll be speechless if you wear that." Said a voice over her shoulder, and Laura turned with an embarrassed grin to see Kara and Sam behind her.

"Good morning, Kara, Sam. Suppose I'm feeling a bit girly today." She said, handing over a bangle she'd left in her purse the day of the attacks and receiving the top and some coins to make up the cost difference.

"Wish this one would," Said Sam, nudging his wife with an elbow," I understand she still has this turquoise dress that is supposed to be a knockout."

Kara blushed scarlet, "Who told you abou—damnit Leland!!"

Laura and Sam laughed at the mortified look on Kara's face, Laura recalling the dress in question.

"I thought it was lovely." She said," Maybe we can have a party next year for an anniversary. Well, two anniversaries. I think I can find something to wear by then."

"I don't know. Starbuck in a dress? Nearly gave me a heart attack the first time. Wouldn't want to be widowed that way, would you?"

"Bill!" She turned again and embraced her husband, who let out a deep chuckle.

"Oi, like you noticed!" Kara teased," you were too busy checking out a certain president's legs at the time." She pulled Bill into a hug and both laughed.

"We better get going. I gotta find out how to make something of this stuff," Kara said, pulling up her own bag and jiggling the new foods New Caprica provided. She and Sam said their goodbyes and then walked off into the milling crowds towards their tent.

When they were out of sight, Laura pulled Bill's head down to hers and kissed him, reveling in the freedom to kiss him senseless in front of the entire human race. Distracted as she was, Laura was certain someone gave an appreciative whistle in the crowd. When she pulled away, he was already laughing in the deep baritone she loved so much.

"What was that for?" He asked, eyes sparkling like they so rarely had before settlement.

"Because I can. Because no one has the right to tell me not to." She said softly, leaning up against him as they began to walk back home.

"A good reason."

"Mnnn," she said, eyes twinkling with a memory," It _is _good."

Bill smiled, the wide and easy grin that had become so normal on his face over the last few days, and pulled her closer to his side. The warm sunlight bore down on them, tempered by a cool breeze blown across the flatlands from the outlying mountains. Laura took a deep breath, cuddling as close to his side as she could as they walked back to their newly-raised tent.

"You're thinking too deeply."

She laughed, "Maybe."

"Anything I should know?" He asked, pulling up the tent flap for her to walk through.

"Its just...this life," She said, setting down her basket and hurriedly hiding the top from him," It's....something I never though I'd have, even before the cancer. I suppose I simply...." She let out a breath that sounded a bit like a whistle, "there are no words for how perfect this is."

"Even with the tent? And a nutjob for a President?"

"And an Admiral for a husband."

He grinned," Ah. And you, miss politician, can't accept the facts on the ground? I'm shocked!"

Putting down the last of the odd fruits, she swatted at his arm playfully, "funny, Admiral Atheist."

She laughed as he pretended to be mortally wounded, dropping down onto the bed theatrically. He made a face at her.

"Well," He said, as she turned around to close the door of the small cabinet that served as a pantry," can't really blame you," She felt him come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling her neck," nothing in the scrolls about the heroine having a flyboy on the side."

Laura let out a laugh, which turned into a pleased hum as he kissed the side of her neck. She wanted to scold him for his rudeness to the Gods that surely saved the two of them for each other, but she couldn't find the ability to speak, the very scent of whatever cologne he'd managed to procure and _Bill_ that most of her higher functions had simply stopped. She turned in his arms to kiss him deeply. They didn't need to make dinner for a couple of hours, anyway.

Outside, a planet went about it's day. Life willed itself to go on.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Terror's Return

"Yes, I think we're about ready. Maya seems to be handling her new duties well."

Laura frowned into her pillow as sleep slowly abandoned her. She wiggled in the blankets, trying to regain it.

"Of course he's throwing a fit. He wasn't exactly pleased about the marriage."

She sighed. Even with a voice like that to sooth her, sleep wasn't going to come back. She rolled onto her side and slowly opened her eyes. Bill stood a few feet away, talking into a portable comm unit. She supposed it was Saul up in orbit, readying the switch.

Saul Tigh wanted to live planetside with Ellen. Bill needed to go protect the colony. And she, as the wife of the Admiral of the Fleet, was to go with him. She smiled, her heart warm with love of the rooms that were officially to be half-hers.

"Yes. I'll see you soon, old friend." The click of the phone pulled her more fully into consciousness and Laura yawned at the unwelcome state change. A lifetime of getting up early, and now all she wanted was to be lazy for a little bit longer.

"About time you woke up." He said, picking up two tea mugs from the table and handing her one.

She stretched and yawned again, taking the mug with a muffled 'thanks' and sitting up in bed. Bill sat down on the end and took a sip of the barely-drinkable morning tea.

"Saul can't wait to come back down here." He said gruffly, frowning slightly.

"He misses her," Laura replied, taking another slow sip of her own cup," the end of your world makes you thankful for what you have, even with all their problems. Even for Ellen Tigh."

"You really ok with this? Moving back up to _Galactica_?" He asked quickly.

"Seems silly to stay down here more than a month when you have to be up in orbit. You can't be coming and going. Bad fuel economy, for one."

Her husband laughed at the frank wording and dry tone he'd named her "I'm-Still-President,-Baltar-You-Frakker" voice.

"He wasn't happy, by the way. But you knew that."

"Baltar can go frak himself, if he already hasn't," She muttered,"But he can't complain too much, theres no real reason to stop me."

"No, but he still fears you."

"Damn right." She said defiantly. Bill laughed again and kissed her before returning to the table where a few bags had been packed already. By the end of the week they'd be back on _Galactica_, their home.

She was going to miss sunrises and sunsets, Kara's surprisingly delicious soups, Maya and Isis, and the feel of ground beneath her feet. She still hoped she would come back someday and build her cabin by the lake, but for now she would have to say goodbye to the things she'd come to love about her unlikely home.

Besides, Bill Adama _was _her home. She could live in Hade's realm itself and call it home so long as he was there.

"Let me help you." she said, getting out of bed and walking over to him, where he had begun putting away her few dishes in a bag of blankets. He moved over a bit and she dried a few of their hand-fired plates.

As they worked, Laura thought silence never sounded so wonderful.

Her bags were packed, her heart was racing, and Laura Adama was walking arm in arm with her husband of two week's time towards the center square of New Caprica. Most of her books had already gone ahead, her precious _Searider Falcon _in a leather satchel marked with her old and new initials in gold leaf. It had been a wedding gift from the Tighs.

She looked at Bill and smiled for what must have been the sixtieth time that day. He was grinning too, eyes bright and open for all to see for the first time in her knowing him. It made her happy in a way she'd never felt possible: His joy made her forget she once died of cancer, or lost an election, or saw the world end. For all her heart knew, they were a couple walking on a Caprican garden path, not a care weighing them down.

They both should have known better, with their track records. Cancer as you obtain freedom from a bad relationship and your civilization demolished as you get your son back really should have been a clue. But they were in love and free to express it, so it took them a while to notice the odd sound in the air.

Bill noticed it first, the Viper pilot of his youth all but screaming at him in the back of his mind. He turned his head to catch the sight of the first Raider swoop down upon them. Instinctively he pulled Laura into a roll, tucking over her like it had only been days, not years, since he'd done it last. But few shots came, and only the terrified screams of his fellow Colonials gave any indication there was trouble.

"Bill, they're LANDING!" Laura shouted, panic overwhelming her voice as she peeked over his shoulder.

She stared at him for a moment, then scrambled out of his protective embrace, "Bill, you need to hide. Now. If they see you, they'll kill you on sight."

He bristled, watching the people run around in terror around them, wondering how soon they were to die.

"I'm not abandoning my wife." Bill growled, the same tone he'd used just before he'd tossed her in the brig during their early acquaintanceship. The tone once annoyed her, but now she understands the depth of emotion it stood for. She softened her expression as he pulled her into an alleyway and tried a different tactic.

"Bill, I'm just a civilian. They know I'm here now, but you they don't. Assets, Bill, assets. We need you alive, for the Fleet."

"Laura, I-"

"Admiral Adama," she said dangerously," you are not going to put MY people in jeopardy for any reason! Is that understood?"

He blinked at her a moment, stunned by her use of his title, but a small smile graced his lips before he pulled her to him and kissed her soundly, his arms holding her up out of the mud.

"I know you're right," He whispered, "but Gods above I'm going to protect you if they come for you. Death couldn't take you, I won't let the Cylons."

"I know." She said, pulling him back towards their tent. Bill watched the sky as they went.

"Jump, Saul, Jump." He whispered at the sky, watching for his ship and friend as they floated high above them. As soon as he'd spoken, it seemed, a bright flash sparked in the sky. Tigh had done what Bill himself would have done and jumped away. He turned to Laura, his expression etched in stone.

"Lets hope there are Gods..."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A Sky Darkening

Laura Adama stood breathless at the tent flap, watching the Centurions marching down the streets of

New Caprica's only settlement. Behind her, Bill came up and held her steady, her hands shaking at the corner of the flap.

Rain had begun to fall on the settlement as the Cylons landed their vessels, basestars orbiting above. The Centurions did not react to the weather, but the group of humanoid Cylons did. Laura felt her body tense as she caught the face of an Eight, hair done up like Boomer and looking blankly around her.

Bill she felt remove one of his arms from her waist, gently touching the top of the scar from his emergency surgery.

"It's her." He croaked, emotion sticking like syrup to his throat. So much pain, but still all the love he held for all his crew buried within. Laura turned her head into his shoulder, the flap dropping and hiding the young woman from view.

"She chose to be a machine." she hissed, desperate to smother the hope in him at Boomer's presence, "She isn't Lt. Valerii. She can't be like Sharon."

His arms returned to her waist, holding her to him as he stared at the silhouette of the very woman he once called one of his own daughters. The figure stopped and spoke.

"This her tent?"

Quickly stifling a gasp, Laura shoved him away, ushering him towards the back, where their bed was separated from the rest of the tent by a heavy burgundy curtain. He helped her douse the light on the nightstand as she hurriedly tossed his uniform jacket in a trunk.

Moments after she'd shut the lid, Boomer entered flanked by two Centurions. Laura jumped back, and Bill had to bite his lip to stop himself from going to her side.

"Boomer." Laura said, anger barely contained. Bill scrambled to the head of their bed, where a gap afforded him a good view of both Laura and Boomer.

"Mada—Mrs. Adama." She said, slipping for just a moment from the flat tone she'd acquired since the deadly evening in CIC to the voice they both remembered. Just for a second, she sounded almost pleased to see his wife.

"Who told you? Baltar?"

"Yes. We've already secured _Colonial One _and the President."

"What do you want with me, then?" Laura demanded, still every bit the President despite the loss of her office.

Boomer looked at each of her guards, waving them away with one hand, "Leave us." which both Centurions obeyed without even a 'by your command.'

Once they were gone, Boomer's face changed and she was much softer looking, kinder somehow. Laura remained steely in her bearing, leveling her best glare at the Cylon.

"I'm here to warn you now before you start a resistance. You won't win. And my sisters and I don't want blood. We're not going to enslave your people, either. This isn't a overthrow."

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that? From the woman who shot my husband?"

He saw Boomer flinch, watched her take a deep breath with her eyes closed, before she spoke again.

"Look, its over. We're here in peace. The bombings were a mistake, all the models agree. We're going to be just towards you now. I'm simply telling you not to try and aggravate things. The last six models may have leiniency, but the Ones would love to see the Admiral's wife lead a charge and be hung for it." Boomer growled, narrowing her eyes in what Bill thought was more an act than anything else. He had a feeling she was only repeating a line.

"Good day, Mrs. Adama." The Cylon said, turning and leaving through the flap. She stopped for a moment on the other side, and both Adamas waited silently for her to move.

"I assume she was alone?" Said a woman.

"Yes, he must have been offplanet when we arrived. No doubt both ships are long gone." Boomer's voice replied.

"Whats the smirk for?"

"Nothing...just something from my old life. Helo would owe me thirty cubits."

Days went by as the Cylons settled over them. Centurion Troopers marched up and down the rows of tents at night, and during the day were stationed along the main dirt road and near the foundation of the main building that was to house the Cylon overlords. Bill, by the third week, was going stir crazy cooped up in their tent, but Laura's fearful expression whenever he considered sneaking out to contact his crew always stayed his hand. Seeing her terrified was unsettling. He was so used to seeing her as indomitable, a stable force of nature even when she was sick, that the merest flicker of terror had him on his best behavior.

Her going out scared him just as much, though he kept remembering Boomer's warning and how Laura seemed to be following it. She left the tent in the morning, taught, and came back that night with news from their crew and reactions to his prescence on the planet. Kara, one day, had given her a crudely made version of the Aurora figurine to return with. She too warned him to stay out of sight, only with an added threat if he didn't.

Silence and suffering. They were the only things their people knew even in the early weeks. And then people started going missing when the building went up. It was up to the fifth missing person—Cally, he thought painfully—when Sam Anders came rushing to their tent in the middle of the night.

"Sam? Sam, whats the matter?!" Laura asked, quickly tying her robe tightly around her and gently leading Sam to a chair. Bill noticed the dark bruise on his forehead before she did, and immediately grabbed a flashlight, worried he had a concussion from the way he swayed slightly.

"Kara is gone." Sam croaked. Bill froze halfway between the table and Sam, breathing halted for a couple of seconds as the other man spoke.

"Kara." He whispered, sudden terror sweeping through him. It was the same feeling he'd had when they told him Zak had been in an accident.

"Where did they take her?" He asked.

"No idea, but they released Cally from the main building, where I thought Kara was...she's with Cottle. Few bruises and cuts. Cally said they're asking about you, sir. And where the rest of the Fleet is. Gods, we should have known they'd take Kara next."

Bill looked at Laura, guilt seeping into his eyes. He knew why they took Kara. She was the daughter he and Carolanne never had, Zak's fiancé. They took her because he cared about her. If he wasn't around, she would suffer for it.

"Bill, don't you dare think what I assume you're thinking." Laura warned. Sam looked up at them both. He sighed. She knew him well enough to know he wanted to get Kara back himself.

"She isn't in the detention center though. Ellen told me she ran into a copy of Sharon, demanded to know where she was. The Cylon told her 'shes alive' and walked off. My wife..." Sam whispered, dropping his head into his hands and wincing as his bruise ached.

"Look up at me, Sam. You might be concussed." Bill ordered, sitting on a stool and shining the light into each of Sam's eyes. He was indeed a bit concussed, so Bill made to stand and help him up.

"Let me take him." Laura offered.

"No, he's heavier than I am. Just give me my winter coat, the hood should work. He needs Cottle." Bill replied, easing Sam up and throwing one of the man's arms over his shoulder. Laura handed him the coat while he helped Sam lean on the center stake.

He took Sam's weight again, letting the younger man lean on him and both exited the tent. Laura stood there for half an hour, waiting in the same spot until Bill returned, face graver than it had ever been. Something told her that that particular set of his jaw meant she should be nervous.

"Laura, when were you going to tell me that Hera is with Maya?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: An Adama's Regrets**

**

* * *

  
**

She froze, the words a catch in reality.

"Bill, I-"

"You lied to me. Did you think I'd never notice how much like Sharon she is? As if that face, be it Lt. Agathon or Boomer, will _ever _be erased from my mind?" He demanded, words colored by enough hurt to appear as simple anger. Laura couldn't speak for a few moments, mind stuck on the ache she knew the loss of a child evoked in Bill and the thought that she may lose him for it.

"Laura, talk to me. Explain this!" He begged, the eyes that looked into hers as he maneuvered both of them to sit on the end of their bed. He gently cupped her face in one hand and forced her to look at him. She felt tears sting the corners of both her eyes as she gathered courage from his tone. He didn't hate her!

"I...I was afraid of what the Cylons would do to us to get at Hera," she began, " I thought she was a danger, Bill. But...Gods I couldn't let her die...she didn't choose to be half-Cylon. How did you find out?"

"Maya had her in for a small cut when Sam and I got there." He replied.

He said no more, walking away from her to look out at the grey landscape of their new prison. Laura wanted to say something, anything. Hate her he may not, but she knew very well how much he knew Helo and Sharon's pain. Zak's death had destroyed him, and she knew the merest trigger could bring back that pain.

" Bill..." She said, voice trembling.

"Hera goes back." He said simply, still not turning to face her, "do we agree?"

The President in her nodded slowly, stiffling a sob, "Yes." Part of her winced at the ease with which her defense and her pride bowed, but she had never really felt comfortable as Laura with her decision. The President, she believed, made the right choice, but the woman inside squirmed the second she took Hera in her arms.

A hand under her chin forced her gaze from the floor to his face. Gone was the stormy expression of a moment ago, replaced by a weary smile and soft eyes.

"I'm not angry at you, Laura. Just...please let me know next time. I'll support you."

"You can't protect me from my regrets, Bill."

" No, I can't. They're our regrets, Laura. I hold them with you."

"Ours." She said.

"Always."

They began to take care of Isis soon after, giving Maya a break during the week. To see Bill with the little girl, her face always animated by some story he told in that wonderful voice of his, charmed Laura with it's earnestness ans sincerity. He seemed determined to care for his people's child, to make sure that she was loved by as many people as possible even in exile.

It didn't matter that Hera didn't really understand what he was saying. Voice was enough.

"And Tam looked over at us in the crowd, beaming. Around her, the other girls were either pouting or cheering.."

It surprised her, though, that he chose to talk about his sister. Before, she wouldn't even of known that Tamara even existed if it hadn't been for a mention of his family in the dossier she'd received before coming to the decommissioning ceremony, and yet now the girl was as real as the rain outside and a lot more welcome in her new life.

" Soup's ready!" She said proudly, turning to them and place three bowls of her meager soup on the table," Care to accuse me of not knowing how to cook now?"

Bill smiled softly at her, Hera wiggling in his arms at the mention of food.

"That remains to be seen." He replied, setting Hera down in a cushioned chair and pulling two bowls of the soup towards them. Gently, he tested the meal's heat before offering it up to Hera, who slurped it happily.

"She likes it."

"She's a small child. She'll love anything you put in front of her."

"Smart mouth."

He smiled up at her in reply. The moment was beautiful, the sight of man and child (and surely, from an outsider's view, herself) throwing off the dark world they lived in enough so that she could pretend that she was a mother on Caprica. They ate in blissful peace, silent but happy for what seemed merely seconds.

It was gone just as quickly as it came, the sound of the curfew siren making Hera emit pained little moans and wiping the smile from Bill's face as he let her bury her little face in his sweater. Laura cursed the Cylons, meeting her husbands eyes.

They felt so helpless, despite the respites they were given with Hera. Bill knew Saul was furiously thinking of a way to save them, but each night as he lay in bed, he thought through scenario after scenario and was unable to find one that worked. And Laura often came in crying over a "mysterious death" or another person stolen away. They hadn't seen Kara since the week after occupation began, either.

"Let me take this one back to Maya before second siren." Laura said, conscious of the meaning of each siren's tone. She had about twenty minutes until the final siren sounded.

"Be careful." He warned, standing with Hera in his arms and handing the child to her. Bill kissed her softly over Hera's curly head before the two of them walked to the tent's entrance before Laura and Hera slipped out into the twilight.

Bill took to the dishes while she was gone, humming that old ditty he'd sung to Laura only a few months before. He had just dried the last dish when he heard the sound he feared the most.

Laura was screaming.

He dropped the dishrag, grabbed his hooded coat, and raced outside just as Sam, Ellen, and the Tyrols made it. Ellen flashed him a look of warning and took off with Chief and Cally towards Laura. She stood about twenty feet away, struggling in the grip of a Centurion. Her face was livid, but pained. There was blood seeping down her arm from the force of the robot's hand on her wrist. Bill made a move to run to her, rage blinding him to everything but the sharp red color of her blood against her pale skin. A hand grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

He turned, ready to let the offender have it, but the look in Sam's eyes stopped him.

"They may not hurt her. But they'll kill you. And I am not letting you die, sir. I'm not going to watch Laura be widowed or Kara come back to your grave." He said darkly, straining to keep Bill routed in place as he fought against the younger man's grip.

"My wife...my wife."

"Your President." Sam retorted. Both of the broke their gaze to look back at Laura.

" Let her go!!! She's just a schoolteacher, let her go!" Chief yelled as he got nearer. He tackled the Centurion, actually shoving it off balance enough to topple it into the mud. But no sooner had Laura pryed herself free during the distraction than three humanoid Cylons—a Sharon, a blonde, and a dark skinned man—knocked Chief to the ground and pulled Laura to them. Weak from her struggle with the machine, she slumped against the Sharon-who-was-not-Sharon. The woman shot the dark skinned Cylon a dirty look.

"You didn't need to let them be so cruel." She said, and Bill instantly recognized Boomer.

"She didn't need to struggle." He said harshly. He turned to them, the crowd that had gathered in anger.

"Go back to your homes. This woman is charged with building a resistance against the peaceful intentions of the Cylon Fleet. Six explosive devices were found this morning. We know you still follow Mrs. Adama as a leader, but let me tell you this: Your faith is foolish. This is your life. Live it in peace."

"Not without the Old Lady!" Shouted one of the pilots in the crowd. Several angry replies of "so say we all" rose up. The dark Cylon and the Blonde exchanged agitated glances. Bill broke free from Sam's grip and made a run for Laura.

"Return Mrs. Adama!"

The dark skinned Cylon turned to the Centurions and nodded, " Knock them around a bit-"

"NO Deaths!" Shouted Boomer. The Centurion bowed it's head to her and then turned on to the humans just as Bill reached Boomer and Laura. It's arm came down on his head just as Laura recognized him. She screamed, wrestling against Boomer futily, tears in her eyes.

The last thing he remembered was the sound of his people crying out in anger or pain and Laura's agonized face, her tears joining the first drops of another New Caprican rain.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: An Enemy's Fear

Laura woke to the sound of a woman humming, the familiar tone of her voice initially soothing until she recognized it from her flight to Galactica after the attacks. Her eyes flew open and she groaned. The light in the concrete room she found herself was over bright and painful.

"shh...keep your eyes closed. They need time to adjust. And you've got a cut over your eye." Boomer gently touched a cold cloth to Laura's left eyes, then dabbed something gooey over where she'd cleaned. Laura, confused by the kindness, let her place a bandage over the cut, which was beginning to throb before slowly opening her eyes again.

Boomer, dressed in a short green jacket, black top, and blue jeans, was crouched in front of her. For a moment, a hint of concern looked back at her from the Cylon's dark eyes before it became flat and soulless.

"Why did you do it, Mrs. Adama?" She asked.

"I didn't."

"But you knew. You knew and you helped plan."

"No."

"Yes. That plan was too sophisticated for the felons we caught near the site." Boomer returned.

Laura swallowed deeply. She had helped a man from the Astral Queen, telling him what she knew from having seen a few people taken to this very place so he could find a way in. She hadn't told Bill, nor had she truly planned the bombing attempt, but the Cylons had gone for her anyway. There was little secret in her mind as to why she was targeted.

She was an Adama, of course. She was wife to Admiral Adama. She was stepmother to Commander Adama. She was the true President of the Twelve Colonies. She was dangerous.

"You're afraid of me." She whispered softly, "You have no proof, really. You just fear me. How long have you all waited for a reason to take me, my good behavior be damned?"

"I don't think a terrorist has the right to question me."

Laura scowled at her, "I don't think the woman who shot the man she claimed to love like a father has the right to call me a terrorist." She spat, reveling for a moment in the pain she saw in the thing's eyes.

"So even you feel." She murmmured drowsily, the throbbing in her skull beginning to overwhelm her.

"No." Boomer said, standing, "I'm a machine. I don't feel, I do."

She spared one last look at Laura when she'd walked to the door, then turned and shut it behind her.

"We'll let you sit there for a few hours," Boomer's voice said, "and you'll wish you'd just admitted it outright to me. Cavil isn't as kind."

Then the lights went out.

**********************************************************************************

Bill awoke slowly, the haze of what experience told him was either a really bad concussion or a really good hangover preventing immediate consciousness.

Slowly, the image of his wife's terrified and pained expression, her body kept rooted by Boomer's unnaturally strong arms, revealed itself in the mist and he shot upright. He was in a different tent than his own under a deep blue coverlet. He looked around, recognizing Kara's long mirror, two Viper jock smocks hanging from pegs on the wall, and a barrel of Tyrol's moonshine from his and Laura's wedding celebration.

"Anders?" He rasped. His throat was drier than a Caprican politician's jokes.

"Not here. He's at the Detention Center, waiting." Came a woman's voice.

"Mn..Ellen?" He asked, looking to his right. Ellen nodded and handed him a cup of water. He took the time as she refiled the pitcher on the beside table to notice the unruly tangles in her once shining hair and the solemn way she carried herself. Even Ellen Tigh, the unsinkable woman that she was, had taken a battering of sorrow in the week since he'd last had direct contact with the outside world.

"Yes. Just lay there a moment, Bill. You got about half a ton of Cylon that came down on your head. Thick as it is, you've taken quite a hit."

"Laura!" He said. Bill threw off the coverlet and attempted to stand. The things he'd seen in the war, the things his imagination provided, were assailing him, replacing unnamed victims with the face of his wife. He remembered the butchered woman's arm from the first time he met a Cylon creation, the wails of the mother and child locked in that back room, but Laura's body, her cries instead.

"No!" Ellen scolded, leaning forward to shove him back down on the bed, "You're over sixty and you got a big scar from a major surgery down your chest, you'll kill yourself getting up now, and then where will she be?"

He froze, realizing the truth in her words even as a part of him howled for the synthetic blood of their captors. If he died....if he died and she somehow survived....the pain it would cause her was unthinkable.

"I..you're right." He said, lowering himself down to the bed.

" Of course I am. Cottle says you need to stay her for at least ten hours," Ellen said, distractedly rearranging the coverlet, " you scared a lot of people, Bill. Your crew wanted to kill the Cylons as it was."

He smiled a moment, proud of his crew despite the tingling worry for Laura. That they would do something that potentially stupid in his wife's defense was heartening.

Ellen stopped fidgeting with the coverlet and sat back in her chair, pale and unnaturally quiet. Bill was unnerved, and the tingling feeling of uselessness was feeding off the strange behavior, enhancing it.

He reached out to grasp Ellen's hand. She looked up at him with a trembling gaze and squeezed back.

"Saul will come back, Ellen. And Laura won't give up." He said.

She attempted a weak smile. Bill would have smiled back, if not for the way the words sounded hollow even to his ears.


	9. Chapter 9

..

Chapter 9: A Caval's Methods

Laura waited for hours. Or was it days? She had no idea, having soon figured out that the "window" was just a hole in an inner wall. The outer wall provided fake light that confused the people held in the many small detention rooms along the inner building. The light could be changed at any time, and with her frequent need to sleep, she often woke feeling only a few hours had gone by but finding the cell dark.

She dreamed of Bill when she was asleep. Their wedding day, their vows, and her new children keeping her sane despite every attempt by the Cylons to break her with disorientation..

His smile she practiced conjuring out of the darkness when her captors made it night. She knew she would need it when Caval showed up. It felt like three days before the deceivingly serene Cylon showed himself, but when he did, Laura immediately closed her eyes and imagined Bill's face on Kobol, the way he seemed so much softer, more handsome, than he had in the cold sterility that was Galactica's brig. His eyes...

"I see Boomer's attempts were futile. A pity, she almost begged to talk to you first, convince you with good words to simply speak the truth."

"She sort of nearly ruined my wedding day before I knew I would have one and, oh yes, almost drove the Fleet into anarchy. Forgive me for not wanting to listen to her." She spat, surprised she still had the strength to be so bold. Caval raised an eyebrow, clearly thinking along the same lines. He backed up slightly.

"Now, now, Mrs. Adama. There is no need for such, ah, angry words."

"What do you want with me?" Laura replied. It seemed foolish to look to her as a danger when the only powers she wielded were domestic (she had to smirk inwardly. Bill would heartily agree).

"You are a symbol, Laura. The people realize Baltar's incompetence as a leader and you, their holy prophet, warned them. Tom Zarek, their once-VP, refused to collaborate with our peaceful measures."

"AGGGGGGHH!!!"

Laura jumped, eyes widening in horror as she heard the scream. She knew Tom's voice anywhere.

"STOP! Leave him alone! Please!" She cried.

"Tell me where your husband is." Cavil said lightly.

"LAURA! DON'T!!!" Gods, how close were they if he could hear her and Cavil both? And did Tom know that Bill was on the planet with them? Laura shut her eyes. Regardless of the facts, she couldn't, wouldn't, tell this monster anything. Her they might beat, but Bill she feared would simply be executed.

"Laura, really. He's far in space, isn't he? Where did you order him to go? To Earth? Back to Kobol? WHERE?!"

Laura looked up at him calmly, aware of the rage she was going to incur for her love and loyalty. But she was going to make it clear that neither she nor Tom was going to give in. That he was here too gave her hope. Cavil thought she was spearheading an insurgency? Then that was what she was going to give him.

If she ever got out, that is.

"Go to Hades. And rot there."

The blow came so fast she didn't have time to even close her mouth after her words. Stars danced in her vision as the blackness faded away.

Bill's face rose out of the darkness at the edge of her vision and she pulled herself up defiantly, leaning up on her knees.

"You waste your time, Cavil," she spat," I will never betray the Fleet. I will never betray my people. And I will NEVER betray Bill. It's called love, not that you'd know it even if it bit you on the ass."

Cavil turned a ugly shade of red at her words, then smiled serenely at her.

"I see we're working on the wrong person." He clicked his fingers. The door behind him opened and Tom was shoved in, bleeding from a gash on his forehead. Cavil turned to him and the Dorals who held his arms behind his back. He smiled at her the best he could and winked.

Laura hid her shaky smile behind her curtain of hair. Relief flooded her that at least neither of them was alone in this.

"Now, Mr. Zarek. You can tell us how you've been planning these attacks from inside a prison cell, or the Admiral's lovely wife here will feel my...displeasure." For a moment, she caught a look of fear in Tom's eyes.

"The Admiral's lovely wife is going to airlock your ass once this is over." She growled. The words seem to galvanize Tom, who lifted his chin and glared at Cavil.

Cavil turned to her, bashing her shoulder with his fist. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as he took the back of his hand to her cheek. She could feel copper in her mouth as she gasped for air. The room began to spin.

"Tell..them nothing." She hissed to Tom in her most presidential voice,"nothing.."

She hit the ground and went slack, Tom's protesting cries in her ear.

Five days. Five days and no word.

His pilots had taken turns pacing outside the Detention Center in his stead for five long days. Each had demanded to know where Laura was, only to be met with a "she will be freed soon." He hated the word now.

In the bed behind him, Hera whimpered in her sleep and Bill thought painfully of Maya, killed in a Cylon retaliation two days after Laura's kidnapping. The Cylons called it a human attack on their peaceful plans. The humans called it putting Centurions in the middle of a horde of angry and oppressed people and not expecting them to chafe.

"Hush....Hera." He said softly, running his thumb over the child's temple. It seemed to soothe her back to a deep sleep. He knew she missed Maya and Laura, for she had slept little after Laura's kidnapping and, until now, hadn't slept at all since Maya's death. Only his continued presence by her side had kept the little girl asleep.

He reached over her and grabed a book off his usual pillow (for Hera had taken over Laura's) and shutting it. A book of fairy tales had someone been saved during the flight from the Colonies, and he'd taken to reading aloud to Hera to pass the time.

He set it aside on the bedside table, head in his hands.

Hera needed a book.

He needed a Laura.

"Hurry! Get her inside!"

He turned towards the entrance to the tent, recognizing Ellen's voice. She sounded close to tears.

A second later, he knew she wasn't close to tears. She was almost swimming in them. Her blonde hair hung in wet ringlets around her face and her clothes were soaked, mostly due to her raincoat being wrapped around a figure barely able to stand as Ellen guided them in.

His heart almost stopped. Putting a finger to his lips so Ellen wouldn't continue to speak loud enough to wake Hera, he moved forward and helped her close the tent flap.

"Laura?" He breathed. Ellen, one arm free thanks to Bill's assistance, pulled back the hood of the coat. Under it, Laura's hair hung down in her face, a nasty bruise on her right cheek. She was relatively dry, but silent and shivering all the same.

He looked to Ellen, "I've got her. Why don't you go get Cottle, and maybe some dry clothes. You can use my coat." He said. Ellen nodded and marched herself outside again, Bill's waterproof coat bundled in her arms. She shot one last look back at them and Bill thought, distractedly, that he'd never seen so much compassion in Ellen Tigh's eyes before.

Bill turned back to his wife, raising her chin with his hand. Her eyes were blank but for one little spark in them as she recognized him.

"Bill." She whispered, the voice startling him by how much it resembled the one she'd had just hours before her death the first time.

Then she collapsed in his arms.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Family's Strength

Bill sat beside his wife, who lay in their bed more than twelve hours later still unconscious. Ellen had returned with Cottle and, suprisingly, Cally. The latter woman, after seeing to it that Cottle did his job, helped Ellen dry and dress Laura in her nightgown. Ellen had pulled out a comb and set to work smoothing out the tangles in Laura's red hair. It had been a sight that he'd quickly averted his eyes from. Despite the differences in the three women, he had a nagging feeling that for him to look upon it was somehow profane.

Cally and Ellen had left eventually, Cottle too, and left Bill with careful instructions on what to do when (he'd ignored the if that came in Cottle's eyes as he'd spoken) she woke up. And so he waited.

And thought. And finally came to a conclusion.

He couldn't throw the burden of saving them on Saul's shoulders.

He trusted Saul was fighting every second for a way to save them, even as Bill began to see how impossible that'd be. The man he'd known for thirty years wouldn't leave his best friend—or his crew—behind, even if he merely returned to die with them.

He rose from her side, mind already forming a plan. He needed an in to the Cylon plans. He needed to get someone who had nothing else to lose and everything to gain from helping him start what he was contemplating.

Bill needed to get to Felix Gaeta. It was time for revolution. He was not going to remain hidden much longer, not if his people were going to be subjected to the kind of torture Laura showed signs of. He thought of Cally and the bruises he'd seen on her arms when she'd rolled up her sleeves to wash Laura's face and hands. He thought of Sam's numb wanderings and his Kara Gods knew where. It was too much to wait anymore. He couldn't let his faith be all that stood between his people and death. In his heart, Bill was a soldier, uniform or no.

He took one last look down at Laura, pulled on his coat, and snuck out into the evening.

Sam Anders, Bill, Gaeta, Chief, and Cally sat at the table in the Adama's tent, the curtain around the bed shut tight on Laura. She'd come out of her drug induced state and was now resting peacefully.

Gaeta threw uneasy glances at the curtain, making Bill more confident in his choice to reveal himself to the former Lieutenant despite his role so close to Baltar's puppet administration. He knew no member of his crew was emotionless when it came to Laura. She was their president first, and then their Admiral's wife, the latter automatically granting her the protection of every one of them. No doubt Gaeta's misplaced guilt would be advantageous. Bill smirked; He was beginning to sound like a politician.

"I can't be seen around here," Gaeta began," so if you want me to relay information, we'll need some sort of system. Some place, perhaps, where I can safely leave what you need."

"Hm..," said Bill, frowning," Any suggestions?"

"Mn...Bill?"

The group froze, all of them sharing a breathless second before Bill jumped out of his seat and rushed behind the curtain. The others followed, a bit more sedately, round the curtain.

Laura was still lying on her back, but her eyes were open and she was slowly turning her head towards them.

"Laura..," Bill choked out. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. She sniffled, choking back a sob as he ran his thumb over the back of her hand. He smiled softly down at her.

"I thought," Laura croaked, so many hours of disuse having worn her voice to nothing, "I thought I'd never see you again."

His heart broke with the admission.

"But you have, Laura. You're stronger than them."

Laura sighed and turned away, taking in the others for the first time since waking.

"Hey, Ma'am." Said Cally, coming to sit on the other side of the bed. She took Laura's other hand and tried her best not to cry at the state her former president was in. A livid bruise stood out near the junction of her lower jaw to her skull and all present knew there were scars that may never heal hidden within her.

Sam and Gaeta came forward as well, the latter taking a seat next to Bill while Sam sat down beside Cally. Laura looked round at them all with a brave smile, happy to see that her people were still relatively unharmed.

Cally turned back towards the Chief, frowning. He squirmed and shuffled back a bit.

Making the decision for him, Cally stood up and pulled Sam out of the way, glaring at her husband until he approached Laura's side. Laura took his hand before he could say anything and gazed up at him proudly.

"You risked your life for me...thank you Galen." She said softly. Chief blushed scarlet and looked down at where Laura held his hand.

"I....you're my president. And....our Old Lady. We'd all stick our necks out for you, ma'am." He said. Bill knew the man was still feeling more guilt at failing to save her than embarrassment at the praise, but hoped it would reverse in time.

It also did something glorious to his heart to remember how very stupid crashing into a Centurion was, and that Galen Tyrol thought nothing of doing it for the sake of his Admiral's wife.

"What...," Laura breathed," are you all here at once for?"

A dark feeling ghosted through all of them. Their smiles faltered at Laura's question. Bill knows why. None of them are reluctant to fight this head on, not even Laura, but they know the ways that will certainly be employed the longer it takes for Saul and the others to come back—if at all. And Laura, though she has the strength and the ruthless streak, was not capable of the kind of warfare they were going to employ. She still had her compassion for life.

"Stop...looking at one another like I can't read your expressions."

"Ma'am.," Sam began, but she shot him her best teacher look and he fell silent.

"I'm a teacher, Mr. Anders. I know what happens when an oppressed populace has had enough."

"Laura," Bill said, leaning closer to her as she struggled to turn her head his way," They know what happened to you. Ellen got you here yesterday, but Cally told me quite a few eyes were on you when you were released."

"Hmm..."

"It isn't just the people in this tent that still stand with you," Sam said.

"And with Doctor Doofus's screwup...", Cally added, making a face.

Laura made a face at the young woman's name for Baltar, giggling until a pain in her chest stopped her short. She burst into coughs, her face frozen in agony until Bill and Sam helped her sit up and control her breathing.

They all looked so pained at her distress that she didn't complain when Sam went to start some tea or Cally readjusted the pillows. Normally their mothering would bristle against her carefully constructed facade of power, the strong politician. It was a sign of how severely she'd been hurt and how much it weakened her that she allowed them to control the situation.

"We'll talk about fighting back later," Bill said finally, once Laura had laid back in bed and Sam had helped her drink some tea," Right now, you just rest. I'll be here."

"I know." She said, picking his hand up in both of hers and kissing his knuckles," I know."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: A Committed Front

* * *

Despite her hopes that the resistance would build slowly, Laura found that news of what was going on in the detention center—most talked about being what happened to Tom and herself—spread faster than dessert sands in a windstorm. More suprising to her was how angry it made them. It humbled her to know how central to the people's faith she'd become.

Her desperate protection of her husband's whereabouts had become common knowledge, making her even more beloved, mostly by the wives of the fleet who emulated her as a few of them—Ellen, Cally again for examples—were stolen away. All returned emotionally broken but resolute, and it gave everyone around them strength and anger at the injustices of their occupation under Cylon law.

She had to smirk. No longer thought of as a scary, yet calm coexistence, life on New Caprica was a war waiting to erupt. It worried her, but she also came to see how much control she had over the whens and hows if she'd agree to lead this.

During her internment, the though hadn't hit her just the one time. Over and over her reluctance had warred with her desire to fight their oppressors. But there was plenty of fury there, too. Fury at her own people for falling for this pipe dream, at herself for falling too, but mostly an appalling sense of rage at the fleet. It had kept her from moving in the early days, but now...

Sitting up in bed—for she could fight off Bill's stern instruction, but he, Cottle, Chief, and Ellen were another matter—Laura let her mind wander as she gazed around the tent. There would be many people there once the sun went down. Her stomach clenched in fear. Bill....

Her ordeal had broken something in him. His restraint, his serenity, had been stretched for weeks before she was taken, and it seemed that such a close attack had easily shaken him. The thing she feared most was coming true. Bill was going to head the resistance she'd so often considered. All that was left was to decided whether to stand up beside him.

She sighed. She wasn't afraid to fight, or even to die. But to die with him close by, to know he was dying too, was terrifying.

But wasn't living and knowing he died worse? Was that even living?

No, it wasn't.

Light spilled in like water from the tent flap. Bill threw off the hood of his coat and tossed the whole thing over a chair.

"Did anyone see you?" She asked sharply.

"No. Tyrol had some of his union workers walk with me. It just looked like a bunch of guys. Besides, so crowded out there you'd never notice me," He replied.

He lent forward and kissed her softly on the lips. She sighed and pulled him in a bit closer, letting him know she wasn't going to break if he put just a little passion into his kisses. He'd been like that since she'd woken, wary glances and chivalrously gentle behavior telling her all she needed to know.

"I'm not glass, Bill."

"I know...but.."

"No buts," she admonished. She laid herself back down, patting his side of the bed. He chuckled and took a seat, pulling off his boots and socks to lay down beside her. For a few moments they were silent, enjoying the simple feel of lying beside each other. But Laura knew she had to tell him soon, and so forced herself to lie on her back, away from his arms.

"Laura?"

"I'm joining you," She said simply. She felt more than heard the sharp intake of breath as Bill tensed.

"Laura..."

"I'm not going to let you go out there and get exposed and then watch them do far worse to you than they did to me. And don't tell me it won't be worse!" She said, catching the look in his eye as he began to form a retort.

"They'll kill you. Publicly. They've given up on any sort of calm, any peace. They'll kill you and make us watch to teach us a lesson. And Bill, it will break your crew. So if you're going to lead them, if you're going to risk yourself, I'm going to be there. They are my people, too."

He sighed, "You're sure about this?"

She turned back over on her side, facing him,"Yes. We are the leaders of this fleet, elections be damned."

He blinked a moment at the use of her presidential tone, but schooled his face into one of calm. He spoke as the Admiral.

"Then we have a lot to do."

Her face softened as he spoke, and he knew her next words were not a command from the president. A part of him wondered when they'd gotten so good at separating themselves from their titles.

"You're my husband, Bill. I'm standing with you, leader or not."

* * *

The streets were deserted like usual. The silence seemed to seep what flecks of color in the land and the tent city that remained, glossing over it all with a gray wash.

Two centurions marched down the city's main road, made into a muddy river by the recent rains. The brown mess splatterd against their steel legs, maring in reverse the sheen of blood on flesh. Behind them, a small group of humanoid Cylons walked together from the Detention Center towards Colonial One. Behind them, twelve new Centurions marched in silent conformity.

They had reached the square, where only months before the entire populace had gathered and gotten terribly drunk in celebration of their Admiral and their hearts's President, when a Two stopped suddenly, eyes focused on a thin silver line in the mud that had nothing to do with the Centurions. He spun around, mouth open to yell out a warning.

It was too late even then.

An explosion burst in the middle of them, tearing a three and a one to shreds and throwing shards of Centurion metal into the Two's back. He flew forward and landed face first in the mud, lying still as the shards slowed in their flight and began to rain down upon him.

The new Centurions were gone when he rolled on his side, sight fading as he died for what must have been the hundredth time since landing on New Caprica. All their work...destroyed.

A boot sunk suddenly into the mud near the Two's head and he struggled to look up. It did him no good, as the person was cloaked in a heavy coat.

"We fight." The person growled. The Two tried to speak, but found the darkness closing in a bit quicker than usual. He died.

* * *

Bill stepped away from the Two and looked around. From each alley, resistance fighters smiled tensely back at him and then dissapeared back to their homes. He saw Laura and Jack turning back towards the medical tent. It was her cover: stay near Jack and have an alibi that the Cylons would believe. He hitched up the hood of his coat and sprinted down a deserted ally, taking the long way back to their tent. He had much more to do.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: A Message Too Late

* * *

There were at least seven thousand wrecked Centurions and countless deaths among the Cylons the more time went on. Many were lost among the Humans too, and Bill lived with the guilt of seeing the people pay in such a way, especially when he'd look at Laura and know she was imagining her white board on Colonial One. But they were done with running, done with being run over. And the people agreed with them.

And then it happened. One day, the very hope he had refused to believe in for so long came true. Bill had been out early that morning to meet with an unusually excited Gaeta.

"Chief sent me this from the caves," Gaeta had said, handing him a folded printout.

The caves had been an accident. A discovery by the mine workers Baltar had ordered to seek out ground fuels for the Colonists, the caves had come to be used as a base for their resistance. Most of the time, Bill had stayed there, allowing Laura the safety of having nothing to hide. Only the night before had he come back to her, delivering any news he could.

Now he sat on their bed, heart in his throat.

'_75 to NC. We're coming for you' _said the first part. '_Kid' _said the second.

Kid. His heart sped up as the clue began to make sense. Kid. Saul had always jokingly called him The Kid during their early friendship. Bill had not only been the youngest, but also looked so among the men and women of the freighter they'd met on. Kid....Saul had sent the message.

He laughed a bit unsteadily. Saul and Lee were coming back. He wasn't sure how it was going to work out, or if his ship and his best friend would be able to make it through, but they were coming. They hadn't given up. And that was all he could think about.

"Bill?"

He looked up as Laura came around the curtain. He took her hands in his as she knelt, taking them from his knees to be held in the air between them. She smiled at the look on his face, some confusion still settled on her brow.

"Saul and Lee are coming back for us." He said, nodding to his right.

She looked at the note resting at his side. A moment passed as she read. Then another.

Her breath broke the silence , eyes suddenly bright and large as she turned back to him. A sound, something between a sob and a laugh, broke over him and then both of them to laugh.

"Oh Gods," She cried, throwing herself in his arms. He spun her around in a circle, the feel of her laugh echoing through his chest and into the skin of his neck. The life he felt in his arms warmed him all over again.

Setting her down, he only had moments to register her movements before she pulled him into a deep kiss.

"Gods I love you," She whispered, lips pulling back only an inch from his as she spoke. He recaptured them as he spun her again.

"When?" She breathed.

"I don't know. But if they've sent that message, they have a plan," he replied. Her smile faltered as a thought crossed her eyes.

"Bill, Galactica can't fight them off long enough to get us all out, can she?"

His joy evaporated. No, the old girl couldn't. Pegasus, perhaps, but not Galactica.

"No, but we can't be sure Saul and Lee don't have a plan between the two of them. We just sit tight and get the resistance ready. I've already sorted it out with Chief and Sam."

She put a hand to his cheek," Always my Admiral," and smiled," I have faith in them, Bill. I just want my family to come through this."

Bill opened his mouth to tell her how damned gorgeous she was when she talked like that, but a rustle at the tent flap prevented it. He turned his head just as Ellen came in.

"Sam said you got something."

Bill smiled and handed her the note as Laura took a seat next to him on the bed. Ellen's eye racked the message and she, like Laura, let out a sound of joy. He stood to retrieve and burn the incriminating message. But before he could react (what was with women and their ability to completely surprise him?) she had thown her arms around his neck, laughing.

He laughed with her, and wondered just for a moment when this woman had turned from obnoxious pain-in-the-ass to a brave friend. Ten years before, he'd have asked anyone who'd described this very scene just how many Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters they'd had and yet here it was.

"What can I do?"

Bill considered Ellen a moment before speaking. She really had become the woman Saul deserved, "Just be ready and let the Chief, Sam, or myself know if you see the Cylons change anything about the colony."

"Okay.," She replied, face still unimaginably bright, and left.

"Wonders never cease," Laura said, a bemused expression on her face. Bill chuckled.

"And now we wait." He said.

She moved to lay her head on his shoulder, one arm snaking around his waist. But before she could, Bill's well trained ears picked up a sound become all too familiar over their long imprisonment.

He tensed.

"Bill, what?"

He pulled her behind him just as the tent flap opened up. Three Centurions stood, guns drawn and pointed at Bill's chest—for a moment he saw another time and place, but a beloved face instead of red beams—with a Three they recognized by her hairstyle as being D'anna Biers.

"I knew it. The attacks got far too sophisticated for a bunch of criminals and civilians." She said, smiling darkly at them both.

"No!" Bill and Laura started. D'anna smiled again and she stepped aside. Ellen, hair mussed and face bruising already, was held between two other Centurions, "Bill, I'm sorry. They caught me. I didn--"

"Its not your fault, Ellen."

Ellen dropped her eyes, tears beginning to leak down her cheeks.

"Take him. Its about time the people see what we do to those who fight us." D'anna said, ignoring the drama around her. The Centurions pounced on Bill, yanking him out of Laura's grasp. She screamed, jumping forward and throwing her fist at D'anna. The Cylon's eyes widened as Laura's fist made contact and she flew backwards. Bill spared a second to be incredibly proud of her before his eyes turned to the Centurions. The two holding Ellen dropped her in the mud, and she made a sickening thud before rolling to her side.

One of the turned around, pointing it's hand gun at a few people who'd come outside when Laura had screamed. The other was in front of his wife before anyone could blink and knocked her aside with one grand sweep of it's metalic arm. She, like Ellen, hit the floor, but she didn't move once she had.

"Laura!? LAURA!" Oh Gods, no. Not after her close call, after Cancer and Cain, not after he'd just got her back.

"LAURA!!"

"Take him to the Detention Center." D'anna ordered, getting up from the mud, jacket and hair coated in it, yet looking completely calm. Only the huge bump on her cheek betrayed her humiliation.

She turned to the onlookers, who Bill noticed now included Chief and Racetrack. Both of those faces were pale and drawn, a sense of guilt in their eyes.

_'Not your fault,' _Bill thought, pain beginning to run up him arms from the grip of the Centurions,_ 'Never your fault.' _

"You hid your Admiral well. But this insolence ends now. Tomorrow afternoon, your revolt ends," D'anna said to the people. Bill was pulled along beside her, craning his neck to see if Laura had moved. She hadn't, but he saw Cally kneeling down next to her, one hand around her wrist. The young woman's eyes connected with his and she nodded curtly, but then let out a cry more suited to a wounded animal than a young woman.

He knew she was listening to D'anna, but he was so intent on the meaning of that curt nod that he missed what the Three was saying.

"NO!"

"STOP THEM! STOP THEM!!"

"YOU FRAKIN' CYLON WHORE!!"

"BITCH!"

"SIR!!!!"

D'anna turned to him, that same smile still plastered across her face. A chill caught Bill's breath in his throat at the look in her eyes. It was a feral, cruel darkness that looked back at him through those eyes.

"I can't wait to see you dead."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: An Interlude

* * *

Lee Adama was pacing in his quarters, and it was driving Saul Tigh up the frakin' wall.

"Will you sit the frak down, Apollo?!" He barked. Lee, to his credit, did not jump as he once would have when being yelled at by Galactica's XO. He simply sat in the leather armchair he'd vacated earlier, face cast in stone.

Saul took a quick, quiet breath. The kid looked like his dad when he got that expression on his face. Were it not for the lighter tone of his skin, courtesy of his mother's people, he could be Bill Adama. It reminded him of what he was struggling not to rush the delicate nature of their rescue. The very thought that something could happen to his best friend stole the breath from his lungs. Add his new kindness towards Laura and it added up to one very terrified Colonel.

But it was set, their message received and responded to. He pulled his mind away from his fears and remembered the words that Helo had brought to him with a grin so large it could crush an elephant.

_'Message received. Await instruction. Kid waiting'_

It had soothed many of the crew when he'd told them in CIC that 'kid' to him mean't the Old Man. The looks the officers faces were ones he'd never forget.

"You do know he's going to figure out you have no intention of surviving," Lee said softly.

Saul growled, "It doesn't matter. He'll be evac'd like the rest of them."

"He'll be pissed."

"He's Bill. No shit," Saul said.

Lee sighed and lent over the maps of the tent city their recon Raptor had taken.

"We need someone to take Colonial One up. Figure we get the Old Man and Laura, the Quorum, and a few media out that way."

"Athena will head there after she secures the codes. She'll make sure the others give the intructions to the people on the ground.

Galactica," he continued," will go alone, hold them, then Pegasus jumps in. You spread jump codes, then get the hell out of there. No bitchin' about it."

Lee looked at him in silence. Saul was surprised to see some concern in the young Commander's eyes.

"No sir, no bitchin,'' Lee said, mimicking Saul's voice. Saul snorted, shaking his head.

"Be thankful you're a commander at the moment, I'd toss you in the brig for being a smartass."

"At this point, I wouldn't mind the days when you could," He said.

"So say we all."

"So say we all."

Saul nodded to the younger officer before turning away and exiting the CO's quarters on Pegasus. He was tired, if he were honest with himself. A week's worth of planning, and subsequent fretting for the what ifs, had robbed him of almost any chance of sleep. He needed to crash, if only for a few hours, to stave off the mounting desire to drink himself stupid one last time, before he had to face the possiblity of Bill, Laura, Ellen, or some awful combination thereof not making it home.

It was times like this, he mused as he made his way down to the deck, that he was thankful for the youth and clearheadedness of Lee Adama. Well, more clearheaded than Saul could ever be. The boy knew his strategy better, having been through training less than ten years prior to the End of the Worlds. Hell, it had been that which had enabled him to think of faking out the Cylon missles when he'd been aboard Colonial One for the first time so long ago. He'd saved himself, as well as several of the people who became the Quorum of Twelve, and Laura with that incredibly risky move. Saul was counting on that same thinking to save their people once more.

He entered the Raptor that was waiting for him. Nodding to one of the pilots—Jarhead? Jugger? Headshot? He'd never get Bill's ability to know everyone by name and callsign—he settled back into the ECO's seat and buckled in. Whatever his name was, he'd been a nugget not too long before, and Saul was taking no chances.

The ride took too long for him. It felt like a funeral march, long and slow, almost at standstill. He smiled wryly. How suitable. If things worked out the way he supposed, he and the small number of volunteers, mostly those who'd lost their entire families long before the attacks, wouldn't make it out. It was the kind of thing he envisioned Bill doing for their people.

Bill. And Laura. And Ellen. His whole world was down on that fraking planet.

Looking out the canopy, he watched as Galactica's side bearing her name grew larger and larger.

"It's about showtime," he whispered,"let's see what you got old girl."


	14. Chapter 14

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_**Chapter 14: The Darkest Hour**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

The little cluster of tents sat an inch deep in mud, the rain splashing brown specks halfway up the sides of the green canvas walls. In each, the fires that were so vital to their survival burnt in the safety of the pits each resident had dug upon the first days of the settlement. But each tent that day lit up the tents entirely, save for the outlines of the sparse furnishings. The bulk of the people were not there.

Laura Adama lay asleep in Ellen Tigh's tent, the latter woman at her side with an icepack secured to her cheek and another in her hand, hovering over Laura's skull.

Gently, she let the pack down over the other woman's head. After a minute or so, she removed it, and heaved a sigh. There was no longer red staining the white cloth. Cottle would be pleased his sewing job had been so effective.

"Major...," she said softly.

At the front of the tent Jack Cottle turned from the wash basin. Ellen held up the icepack for him to see. He nodded.

"Good, it means the wound wasn't as bad as it looked out there."

Ellen tried a weak smile, while died as he said 'out there'.

"Zeus on a cracker," she muttered. She stood, brushed out her long skirt, and moved to open the tent flap," I'm going to go see if there is any news," she said, grabbing the coat she'd forgotten to return to Bill. She looked at it sadly for a moment, then put it on.

"Fine. Just don't yourself knocked around again, woman, or I may have to sedate you for a month," Cottle barked. Another smile, this one stronger, was his response before Ellen's blond head ducked out of the tent and into the miserable outdoors.

The doctor turned back to his other regular patient," How may times am I going to have to patch you up, young lady?"

No response met his ear other than Laura's deep breathing. Cottle gentle brushed some stray hairs out of her eyes, letting his hand remain near her hair.

" A few more times, I'll wager," he whispered, looking towards the tent's opening, "Gods preserve that husband of yours though."

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The coat Ellen wrapped about her protected her body from the wind and rain, but she'd neglected the hood. The water mattered her once vibrant hair down around her shoulders, making her look smaller, less significant. It was how she'd felt, at least. Insignificant. Especially once she laid eyes on the detention center.

The whole of the Fleet was there. Soldiers and pilots stood closest, while the rest of the people gather behind. They were silent, like the center of storm cells back in her hometown on Caprica.

She found Tyrol in the center of the military group and pulled on his arm to get his attention.

"Nothing," he said as soon as he saw who it was," not a damn thing. How's the Old Lady?"

"Alive and finally sleeping," she replied, eyes turning towards the gates of the large gray building.

"Is there anything we can do?"

Tyrol looked back at her sadly,"I..don't know."

They looked back together, standing in silence. Ellen felt the cold winds brush under the hem of her muddied slacks and shivered, but stayed where she was.

She felt inactive. Her arms and legs felt like they were buzzing as she stood beside Tyrol. For the first time in her life, Ellen Marie Tigh wanted to get in someone's face and not go behind their back. She'd always sneered at Bill, and by extension Saul, for their dedication to something other than the real world before them. But looking at Laura, and knowing Bill was in the building before her facing an almost certain death gave her pause.

"Wait, somethings happening," hissed Tyrol in her ear. Ellen's head shot up as her heart did a leap up her throat and over her head.

A copy of Sharon was walking towards them. Her body language was blank, emotionless. But her eyes. Ellen had always been one to note the little details. Never on people like this, but she had. This woman's eyes were pained, dulled, but pained.

Ellen though back to something she'd heard from Saul, back just after the Agathon woman began to become one of them. She'd gotten the acceptance eventually because of how Cylons downloaded. She wasn't Boomer. But this one...this one had Boomer's memories. Perhaps she had the guilt, too.

"WHERE'S ADAMA?!" screamed someone in the crowd. An angry murmur grew among them, a hive detecting an invasion.

"They really shouldn't of sent that model out. Baring Athena, they're all Boomer," Tyrol growled.

"Shh," she whispered. The copy Sharon looked ready to speak.

"Please return to your homes," the Cylon called out, voice strong yet somehow soft among the pla-plap of the drizzling rain," you do your Admiral no good by this. D'Anna _will _send out Centurions if I return with no sign of this mob being disbanded."

"Why do you care?" Ellen said, pushing forward. She set her face in the most scornful look in her arsenal.

The Cylon looked at her calmly, doe eyes studying her," I am a model Eight," she said, " we are not without sympathy. Now go, or the Admiral will have to see his people die first." With that, the Cylon turned from them and walked back into the hallway of the detention center.

The slow buzzing murmur that had greeted the Eight rose again as soon as she was out of sight.

"People, people!" Ellen almost sighed with relief. Tom Zarek parted the crowd around him and jumped onto some empty crates sitting near the center's gate. She could see the fading bruise over his left eye from his first stint as a prisoner and see the cuts down his left arm from yet another visit. He'd been out of the picture since Laura's arrest and torture, but she could tell he hadn't recovered from his own wounds. Still, she was glad to see him.

"For the time being, let the bulk of you follow the Eight's advice. We do not need to let innocent blood spill. Take your families and return to your tents. I will remain here. Please," he said, out of breath from just that short speech. He held his arms around his chest, as if keeping his lungs in place. Ellen winced. Gods, what had they done to him.

And what, she wondered suddenly, did that mean they would do to Bill before they finally killed him?

People pushed past her as they disbursed, muttered and shooting fowl looks at the detention center. But they all were soon out of sight, leaving Ellen standing in the mud with Galen Tyrol and Tom Zarek. The two men looked at each other, then at her, before Tyrol spoke.

"What are we going to do?" he said.

For a second Tom seemed ready to answer, but once he was sure the bulk of the Fleet was out of earshot, his shoulders slumped and her looked at them with resignation.

"I don't think we can do anything."

Tyrol's face paled. He looked away and turned his back on them, marching back towards the tent city without a word. When he was gone, Tom looked her straight in the eye.

"Gods willing, your husband and Commander Adama will get here before tomorrow."

"And if they're not?"

"Then pray they make it quick."

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Ellen is just becoming a bigger person than I'd imagined. It's kinda..fun. Anyhow, enjoy.


	15. Chapter 15

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_** Chapter 15: Hope's Savior **_

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Laura woke the next day, leveling a gaze that could kill at Cottle when she was told where her husband was. She spoke little the rest of the day, worrying nearly everyone who knew her. Ellen brought her dinner, eating in silence beside the bed when Laura made it clear she wasn't going to speak.

So it surprised everyone when she came down into the hidden caves on the outskirts and demanded to know everything about Saul and Lee's transmissions. The men and women who'd taken over the Resistance immediately snapped to attention and gotten her all she needed.

Sitting there after two hours of silent analysis, Laura looked up at Tyrol with determination.

"If I told you I have an idea, what immediately comes to mind?" she asked.

Tyrol's lip twitched," Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"You're going to tell me something insane. And I'm going to follow it. Whats the plan, Ma'am?"

Laura sighed, then winced. He hand went to her bandaged temple, feeling the throbbing pain that medication simply couldn't allay.

"Get me Tom Zarek, first off. I need some advice about explosives. Then signal Felix Gaeta. I don't care if he has to blow cover to raid every bit of information from That Frakweasel, he just needs to do it. Get someone to protect him and deliver him here without being tailed." she said, looking up at him.

He smiled back and nodded.

"Yes Ma'am. One revolution coming right up."

_____________________________________________________________________________

Bill had never known such silence as he waited for his death.

It was unlike the silences he remembered. His sister's wake, his mother's memorial, Jaycie's bedside, the hours after Lee and Zak were born...those were calms between the dizzying action that had been his life since he was 7 years old. But this, this emptyness, was something entirely knew. He had nothing in the small grey cell to focus on visually, and even closing his eyes to draw Laura's image in his mind proved nearly impossible. He sighed. After all his years of service, a daughter, two wars, two sons, and two wives, this was how it ended for the eighteen year old Commander Nash had called Husker. Somehow, he thought his mentor would have been somewhat dissapointed.

Bill smiled. If Nash could see Laura, perhaps the rough assesment Bill imagined would change a bit. He could almost hear the old man's voice in his head. _'Damn, Husker. At least you did SOMETHING right.'_

The sound of footsteps broke his thoughts. He raised his head as a pair of Eight eyes peered at him through the covered slat. The face moved away, and then the door opened.

She was wearing a grey dress cinched with a black belt. Her hair was curled at the ends, hanging loosely about her shoulders and twisting around her made-up face. Her face she kept carefully blank as she lowered a tray of food to the ground halfway between them.

He supposed she'd changed her outward style to fool him, but he never forgot one of his ''kids''. Besides, the food she brought—noodles with what looked like some kind of shellfish and herbs—gave it all away. Only one among the Cylons could possibly know to make his last meal his favorite.

"Thank you, Boomer," he said softly. Boomer winced, a muscle in her jaw betraying her feelings.

"Thank Caprica. It was her idea.," she replied, voice nearly emotionless but for a small hitch.

"That Cylon doesn't know what my favorite dinner is. Doubt she'd care," he shot back. Boomer, eyes never making direct contact with his, stood and turned away.

"You have two hours left," she said before grabbing the door handle. Her hand was shaking.

"I forgive you,'' he whispered.

Immediately, her back stiffened and she froze in place. After a moment she heaved a heavy breath, then another.

"A machine doesn't need forgiveness. And it's too late now."

"A daughter does. And it's never too late," he smiled," I should know. Thought it was too late to gain back a son or find a wife. I've done both, if you've noticed.''

Boomer turned back to him and finally looked his straight in the eyes. He felt his wounds ach just a bit at the sight of her, but he shoved it away, not for the first time since he's spoken to her wondering what on Kobol made him think he could talk her back.

"When I was lying there," he said. She tensed again, pain flashing through her eyes. He ignored it and continued, never loosing eye contact," I couldn't even open my eyes. But I could hear. I know Lee was whispering for me to hold on. I know Saul was barking orders. But all I remember in detail is you, screaming and crying like you'd just lost everything.''

She stared at him, eyes wide with tears glassing over her dark irises. Emotion. He had to smile. He'd wondered how she might have felt knowing that a program overroade everthing she'd naturally learned. Like she was overwritten. Helpless. A machine.

"Help me," he whispered.

She sighed, held her eyes closed for a moment, then turned and walked out the door. It wasn't the best reaction, but she was still shaking. He had to face that, cling to it with everything in his heart. Because when it came down to it, Boomer was his last hope left. And he liked hope.

Somewhere in space, Saul Tigh stood with both eyes wide in shock. Bill was running out of time. They needed to act now. He crunches the messages in his hand, nodding as he tossed them on Bill's desk. Time to step things up.

_BSG, Airlock calling kryptor kryptor. Husker revealed. Hurry. Airlock ready. Boom boom boom._

Despite the now advanced rate of his heart, he couldn't help but smile at the gall of his best friend's wife. He'd hate to be a Cylon today.

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* * *

Not too sure where the whole Boomer thing came from. Possibly my desire to see Adama forgive her in series took over my figurative pen. I totally want to see her break out of her "im a killing machine'' thing.

And the end. That counts as irony, right?


	16. Chapter 16

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**Chapter 16: Gentle Execution**

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Laura let herself relax for one second before climbing up out of the Resistance base and into the unusually sunny New Caprican afternoon. She walked calmly through the smattering of trees and into the main street of the settlement. People bowed their heads in prayer, in support, and she nodded back, hoping to whatever Gods that will listen that no one can hear her heart pounding.

She managed to get back to Ellen's, her calm before what is surely to be one hell of a storm, in only a few minutes, which sends her into a series of worrying thoughts. What if she was followed? Did she move too fast? Can anyone tell she's nervous?

Laura closed her eyes as the swirling thoughts began to cloud her mind's eye. There could be no room for such things if Bill stood any chance of rescue.

"Ellen, I sent some herbs ahead. We should try and eat now,'' she called as she opened the tent," Ellen?"

No one was there. A sinking feeling of cold dread dropped like a stone to the bottom of her stomach. Laura shook it off almost immediately as she removed her coat. Ellen certainly had her normal errands to run still, though Laura had advised her to stay in. No doubt, she told herself firmly, the poor woman's nerves hadn't allowed her to just sit and wait until the appointed time. So she sat down at the table and began to cut up the small amount of herbs she'd bought earlier in the day. The thin chopping sound lulled her into a sense of calm she'd not felt in a long while. Chop, chop, chop. Her heart rate, which had been out of control since she'd dismissed the resistance leaders slowed to a steady beat.

She took a calming breath as she finished, setting the knife aside and tossing the chopped herbs, their sweet scent rising from the freshly chopped ends, into a small bowl. She took up the crude ceramic container and crossed the small tent to where the still smoldering embers of the afternoon fire lay ready to burn once more.

"LAURA!"

She jumped. Too late she realized that the bowl had slipped from her fingers at the sound of her name being screamed from Gods knew where. The sound of it's shattering roused her from her sudden shock just as Chief wretched back the tent flap with so much force the whole structure was pulled towards him.

"Galen, whats wrong?!"

"It's now."

Laura felt all the blood drain from her body. She imagined the earth below her sucking it all out, as it had with her job, her people's trust, and her hope.

"Oh Gods," she whispered, shaking.

******************************************************************************

The Cylons stood within a cluster of Centurions. A few Sixes were looking forlorn as their prisoner was drug towards the hangman's noose. It was such a primitive form of execution, the noose. A death for the honorless, the betrayers. The people around the Centurions roared with outrage at the method almost as much as they had the prospect of Adama's death in general. They had expected, since the Cylons had infiltrated them, for such a man as William Adama to receive a warrior's death by the sword.

Even more outrageous for them was that the form of the Old Man was entirely obscured by a long white cloak which covered his form in a way that made him indistinguishable from anyone else. They had made it so he could be any one of them. The symbolism was not lost on Laura Adama as she watched in horror, certain that when he dropped from the platform her own neck would break and she'd die right there in the crowd.

"Galen..."

"I'm sorry...Ma'am please I..," Tyrol whispered back in the voice of a terrified child. She looked away from the cloak and noose to look him in the eyes. They were shimmering, ready to loosen the tears she'd never expect from him, and filled with remorse.

"We tried to get him out...but,"

"It's not your fault," she replied weakly. It wasn't, really. Her eyes returned to the platform. He'd told her along the way of the sudden panic of Adama's execution being pushed forward, the attempt to save him that had left three young people dead, and she found that she couldn't find the selfishness to be angry. They had died in his name; she could not begrudge their sacrifice in the face of unimaginable odds.

No words came as the Cylons tied the rope around their victim's neck. Laura squeezed her eyes shut, imagining his blue ones staring back at her with the love and strength he'd always carried for their people.

_Stay strong for them, Laura _she imagined he'd say in that deep, calming voice of his. And she would. Whenever Saul showed up, she would help him save their people. A flash of sympathetic pain struck her at the thought. After it was all over, she could see the look on Saul's face when she told him he'd been too late to save the brother he'd found over thirty years before. Saul Tigh was many things: cranky, a drunk, a card player, a Colonel, but above all he was a loyal friend with a bigger heart than he'd admit. She did not relish the conversation between bereft brother and sudden widow.

The noose was tightened, the Cylons stepped back. An Eight closed her eyes, a soundless cry coming from her lips. Laura's eyes widened as realization hit her that the only Eight there was most likely Boomer. A rage caught up in her throat. How dare that woman mourn him!

"Bealocwealm,hafath. freone frecan forth onsended! giedd sculon singan glaomen sorgiende, on Terra Kobol...," (1) a voice sang out clearly from the crowd. Laura's breath hitched at the long forgotten dirge for a dead warrior she'd only heard once in her life on some historical documentary. No one had earned the sacred song since Kobol was abandoned..

"....thæt he ma no wære , his dryhtne dyrest and maga deorost."(2) she added, eyes closed and heart so heavy it could sink her into the perpetually muddy ground if she'd let it. But she was the Admiral's wife. She would be their President again when this was over.

"Pull!" her eyes flew open, her breath caught, and she saw but a second of the cloak fluttering as it

fell before turning her face into Tyrol's chest. Oh Gods...oh Gods...

Suddenly a sonic boom knocked her off her feet, and Tyrol too. The young deck chief grabbed her

by the waist to keep her from flying away with the wind created by the blast and the two rolled to

the side.

"They're here!" he shouted over the sudden panic of the crowd," Ma'am, look!"

Laura turned up her face and cried with sorrow and joy at once. Galactica was falling from the sky, her Vipers flying out of her burning hull. Too late to save Bill, the military had returned.

"C'mon, we gotta get you to Colonial One," Tyrol said urgently. They had devised the plan ages ago. Tyrol was the one selected to see her and her husband safely off the planet. Only now it was only she he had to worry about. Only her...oh she couldn't leave Bill on the ground and just run.

"No!" Laura cried. Before Tyrol could catch her arm, she'd spun out of range and sprinted towards the platform, all noble thoughts of leading her people gone in the sudden rush of activity. Tyrol swore loudly behind her and gave chase.

Another boom sounded and she knew Galactica had jumped in the atmosphere and back into space. It almost sent her flying, but she dug in her heels and rode it out, panting with the effort as she continued her run.

She scrambled onto the platform, her still well kept (and long) nails slashing at the face of a D'anna copy as she did so. The woman shrieked and toppled over. Tyrol pushed her aside in his effort to follow. She made it to the body, breathless and wrathful, tearing the cloak from the beloved face.

She froze," oh..my Gods," and fell back just as Tyrol made it to her side. He too muttered a swear to the Gods as he looked down on the last person he expected to see.

It was Ellen.

The cloak was a bulky thing, hiding her petite shape and making her seem larger and stockier. The Cylons had known who they were executing, merely hoping no one questioned it. But then, where was Bill?

"LAURA!"

"Bill? BILL!" Laura shouted, eyes scanning the frantic crowds for the man to match the voice. She and Tyrol saw him at once near a Raptor, frantically calling her over. Shaking, Laura rose, watching from the corner of her eye as Tyrol respectfully picked up Ellen's body. They both began to run again, the Vipers and Raiders shrieking overhead and the people screaming as they ran for the nearest ship.

Laura reached Bill in mere seconds, pulling him in for a life-saving kiss before pulling back and letting him lead her into the Raptor. Tyrol followed with Ellen's body as a few other refuges took note of them and raced up the ramp. Bill jumped in the pilots seat and barked to one of the refuges, a pilot whose name Laura didn't know, to take the ECO's spot. The woman nodded and got to work, booting up systems that had lain dormant for months.

And somehow, by the miracle of Galactica and the Resistance, they began their ascent to the stars, their questions and griefs, for the moment, in another world.

________________________________________________________________________

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Yay the writer's block on this fic is GONE. W00t. Don't worry if your confused! And I hope Ellen's death was shocking enough. You'll see later, when Bill recounts his story, how it came to pass that I followed canon just a bit. XD

that sad, it was hard to kill Ellen. I was beginning to adore her. ;_;

"An evil death has set forth the noble warrior! A song shall sing sorrowing minstrels in Meduseld"- These are the English lyrics to Eowyn's Funeral Song from Lord of the Rings. I changed the Meduseld part to Terra Kobol ( Kobol's Earth..sorta..not a real translation). It fit with the idea of Bill as the warrior. So not mine. And can you believe that is really old English?!

"that he is no more,to his lord dearest and kinsmen most beloved. - Lyrics from the same song. Kind of interesting to note, the only words that remain the same are the, on(in) and his. The linguistic part of my brain did a happy dance at that for some reason...


	17. Chapter 17

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_**Chapter 17: Sacrifice**_

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_45 minutes before execution_

Ellen walked along the muddy marketplace, noticing how the people moved and spoke little. Her once perfect nails dug into her palms. She had always hated Bill Adama, mostly for the brotherly love her husband had towards him, the love that always left her feeling second best. She'd never been able to grasp why the love of a wife should ever come to be so. But now, seeing the resignation, the sight of defeat among the people, she could not bring herself to care. This was the end, truly, of the Twelve Colonies, all because one man was set to die. She'd assumed Laura would simply become their focus, but perhaps even they knew that Laura Adama would not have the heart to lead, no matter what even she told herself.

"Two, please," she told a merchant, exchanging a woven belt Laura had made for several orange-like fruits and some cotton fabric. The man, who couldn't have been more than twenty, nodded without even an attempt as a smile.

"Thank you," she said as she moved away. Seeing as she needed nothing else, Ellen turned back towards the tents in the schoolhouse's district. She wished there were other paths to meet up with Laura, for this one, the only one, took her past the detention center. Stopping for a moment, she scanned the rows of windows, wondering which one housed the doomed Admiral.

Tyrol's gang would attempt to save him, she had no doubt. She wished they wouldn't try, knowing all too well that Bill would blame himself for the deaths even she could see coming. No way were the Cylons going to allow anyone to get near him and live. She snorted; the loyalty of his people was so obvious. And yet they were going to walk into death for him anyway.

She turned away from the morbid building in frustration. Something caught her arm though, dragging her backwards in between two stalls. A hand clamped over her mouth before she could scream.

"Don't move. Don't scream. You want to save the Old Man?"

Ellen froze. She'd heard that voice before, though from another woman. Slowly, she nodded, and the hand let go to allow her to turn around. She eyes the woman shrewishly.

"Boomer."

"Before you bitch me out, Mrs. Tigh, I'm here because the Admiral asked me to do something."

Ellen laughed derisively.

"You must think I'm an idiot, Cylon. Whats this? An attempt to take someone else down? Or you just like screwing with Humans both ways?"

Boomer sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Please, can you stop being a bitch for five minutes? Think. I have no reason to do this. A machine wouldn't take pleasure in anything. I...I feel."

Ellen felt her interest spark to life at the tone more than the logic of her words. Since the occupation began, Boomer had been indistinguishable from the others of her model; emotionless and cold. But now her face was twisted in pain and her eyes shone overbright with tears.

"Please let me save him," Boomer pleaded.

"Why? This..makes no sense."

"Just....it's none of your business why I'm doing this. You want to leave a coward or be more than Tigh's whore of a wife like you've always been?"

"Such a saleswoman...," Ellen drawled.

"Well?"

Ellen looked her over, letting her words sink in. This sudden change was unnerving, but Ellen Tigh knew how to pick apart every aspect of a person and find their meaning. It had helped her move up the social ladder on the backs of those she'd deemed simple and honest. Easy marks. The Cylons were always different. Strong. Impersonal. They could not fake honesty if they didn't feel it, nor could they effect any other emotion without some sort of oddity to their words. Boomer looked and spoke like those honest simpletons of Colonial social circles. It was not the stilted emotion Cylons replicated. With a small sigh, Ellen nodded her consent and followed Boomer into the woods. She hadn't come in here before, and so she stumbled a few times over the roots, the weakness from lack of nutrition they'd all suffered making itself more apparent. Her legs felt like jelly and her ankles were sore.

They had not gone far into the foliage when Boomer began to turn right in an arch towards the back of the detention center. She stopped Ellen at the place where the trees began to spread apart and rushed towards a small entrance. It had to be where the Cylons exited and entered so as not to come out directly into the throngs of angry Humans. She could barely see the outline of it in the wall. No wonder no one had ever found it.

Boomer gestured for her to come after she'd opened the door. As she shut it, she grabbed Ellen's hands and twisted them behind her back.

"Shha!" Elle hissed.

"Hush. You need to look like a prisoner."

"Could have fraking told me, you Toaster," Ellen growled back.

"Just shut up and walk," Boomer said. She pushed on Ellen's bound wrists and they pair made their way down the empty halls. Only once did another Cylon, a Leoban, come by. He merely nodded to Boomer, who nodded back and kept walking.

They turned several corners to get away from him, and then Ellen spoke.

"Why do you need me again?"

"D'Anna doesn't trust me. The other day," Boomer turned her down a new corridor," she heard the Old Man ask me to help him. She thinks my model is easy to sway, so she made sure I wasn't allowed near the area again unless I was bringing someone in," another turn," here we go."

She dropped Ellen's wrists, pointing to the juncture they'd just come through. Wordlessly, Ellen went to the edge and peered around for any sign of the Cylons.

"Why no cameras?" she asked softly.

"Arrogance."

Ellens smirked,"how Human."

The lock clicked with a small noise and the door squeaked open. Ellen heard Boomer curse and moved back towards the door. When she saw what made the Cylon swear, she gasped. Her great dislike for the man before them dissipated and she rushed to his side.

Bill Adama was on his side, unconscious. His arms and legs were bound, wrists behind his back with a lock similar to the one of the door. It seemed he'd been struck.

"Oh Gods...."

"I know. It's bad. Must have been visited by that guard we passed. Bet he was the one Adama beat to death at the Anchorage. Damnit, its a good lock."

"Can you undo it?"

"Yeah," Boomer replied. She worked in silence for several tense minutes as Ellen paced outside the door. Finally Boomer whispered an excited "yes!" and she went back in. Boomer lifted Bill unsteadily on one side while Ellen found herself on the other. He was regaining consciousness as the two women were getting back into the hall.

"Boo..Boomer," he choked out," ..?"

"Shh, Bill. Get your legs working, we need to get out of here. It--"

"CENTURIONS!" cried a shrill voice. None of the trio needed to turn around to know that Boomer's assessment of D'Anna's trust in her was well founded. They stumbled forward, Boomer taking most of the weight with her superior strength. Metal feet could be heard from a great distance as well as D'Anna's heels at the other end of the long hallway.

They began to pull Bill more forcefully. His own strength began to return, and soon they were at a full on run towards the exit. D'Anna was screaming her fury at them from behind, the clicking of her heels like gunfire. Thankfully, the Centurions seemed to still be far away.

They had just reached the exit when something caught Ellen's attention at the corner of her eyes. She turned and cried out. Cavil stood at the doorway of another room, shock registering for a second before fury took over. He looked her directly in the eyes and something clicked in her head. This man hated her. He was going to kill her and enjoy it.

"Hurry! GO!" she yelled. Just a few more seconds and they could yell for Human aid in the forest. They'd just made it out when Ellen felt a pain shoot up her right leg from her ankle and she fell forward as her leg gave out beneath her. Bill sagged into Boomer.

"Admiral?!" someone shouted in an Eight's voice. Ellen barely had time to see another Eight standing before them with wide eyes, dressed identically to Boomer. But her hair was different, held back by a ponytail.

Then she looked back and saw why she'd fallen. A bullet had gone through her ankle in a clean shot. She looked up at the still-struggling Bill and the two Eights, the former of who was also struggling under the Admiral's weight.

They weren't getting away if they had to pull them both. And she knew, truer than anything she'd ever known, that she was the one who had to try and save herself. The Fleet needed Bill.

"_You don't get it, woman. I go because it's the only thing I can do that makes me more than a drunk. Bill and the Valkyrie serve something better than me."_

Those had been Saul's words years back when she'd angrily accused him of running away simply to avoid her. But now she saw the truth in them. A weak smile, and a shake of her head, and the two Cylons took hold of Bill and ran.

She tried to drag herself to the treeline, but something stepped on her wounded ankle and she cried out in pain.

"Hello, Ellen,," Cavil said, flipping her over roughly. She looked up into his face and smirked in defiance. She was dead already.

"_I love you, Saul."_


	18. Chapter 18

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_** Chapter 18: The Plan**_

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_fifteen minutes before execution. _

Athena carefully adjusted the jacket and camisole she'd been given to blend in with her people. It worked well for her walk through the market. People spat at her and glared, unaware that an ally walked among them. The Cylons, likewise, didn't suspect a thing. In fact, perhaps due to her pilot's walk, they had called out to her in greeting as Boomer.

The codes, she reminded herself. Stop thinking and find the codes to release the ships. The Chief and the Resistance were counting on her. She looked to the sky, knowing Galactica and Pegasus would soon be there.

_Five minutes to execution_

It was easy to sneak in, which initially worried her. She moved along the corridors, found her mission objective, and snuck out, watching the shadows of humanoid Cylons marching around the front of the building, which also blocked the way to the cells. She cursed. Of course, they were guarding the Old Man. And there was no way for her to get him herself. She had to get back to the Resistance. Only the arrival of the military could be distraction enough to save him.

"CENTURIONS!" she jumped, thinking she been found, so she ran for it. Athena burst out the doors, almost breathless. Her hand fished into the pocket of her slacks for the key codes. Their reassuring presence calmed her heart rate. Taking a deep breath, Athena took off in the opposite direction she came in.

She'd just come around the right side of the building when a door slammed open. Her hand flew to her waist before she remembered she had no sidearm lashed to her side. Damnit.

She watched for a moment, ready to run again, when the Old Man himself stumbled forward, supported by one of her sisters and Ellen Tigh.

"Admiral?!"

The Eight looked at her and suddenly she knew. Boomer.

When asked later what happened, Athena found she couldn't quite remember. Quickly, it seemed, Ellen was down and she was suddenly supporting half the Admiral's weight. The choice was made for her, even though she'd later recall there really was no other choice to make. The only thing that stood out to her was the crunch of leaves under her feet and the rasping breathing of the Admiral and Boomer.

_Two minutes to execution_

Bill knew he was growing delirious from both the fact that his last meal had been the one Boomer had brought him and the sudden burst of exercise. But if he could still think he was delirious, he also knew he still had some sense left in him.

He wished he had the breath to laugh as he and the two Cylon women hurried to the edge of the tent city. The surrealness of the situation was probably why he felt so out of his body. Athena, his pilot he'd learned to respect on one side and Boomer, daughter of his heart and almost his killer. His savior now.

A raptor came into view, and a jerking motion told him Boomer had stopped. She looked around him at Athena.

"Take him on your own now. Switch jackets. I'll make them think you got in there with....that you got in there and saved him. I can't go back to the Fleet, not yet, maybe not ever."

Bill felt Athena nod as she eased him to the ground. She and Boomer switched jackets.

"Sir..," he looked up into Boomer's face. She looked terribly young and vulnerable in the girlish clothing she wore. The scar on his chest pulsed briefly with pain, but he suppressed it. That she'd turned back to his side was proof that Cavil had to twist and break her after she was switched on.

For a moment they looked at one another. Then Boomer knelt down in front of him and threw her arms around his neck. Instinctively he reached out and held her to him, just as he'd done for Lee and Zak and even Kara a few times. A part of him was repulsed, mired deep in the shooting's ghost, but he felt it flicker and die.

"I'm sorry," she whispered," I tried to stop it, to kill myself, when I began to know."

He said nothing in return, merely reached up to run a hand over her hair, father's instincts proving stronger than the memory of being shot once again.

"Go," Boomer said, pulling back with bright eyes," I'll try to get Ellen."

"Thank you," Athena said. Boomer nodded and ran back towards detention center.

Bill struggled to his feet. Athena tugged at his arm while he watched her copy's retreating form and they began towards the raptor. A sudden boom almost knocked them over, but they managed to stay standing. Looking up, he saw Galactica falling through the atmosphere. Saul. Saul had come to save them all. He smiled weakly, then faltered. If Boomer didn't get to Ellen in time.

"Can you make it on your own from here, sir? I've got to get to the others with the keys."

He nodded and they parted ways, she off towards wherever she'd landed and he towards the raptor and the crowd of people running in all directions. He was panting, the long captivity making his body weaker than it had been, even cooped up in his and Laura's tent.

Almost as if his thoughts had summoned her, he caught a flash of auburn hair. His wife. His _wife_ was there, running towards the raptor. His heart felt fit to burst. Laura was alive.

"LAURA!"

"Bill? Bill?!" she saw him then and he accepted her deep kiss and returned it with the passion of a zealot before he noticed the body in Chief's arms. It was Ellen. His heart constricted for the grief that would soon be Saul's. Boomer had been too late, then.

He blocked it from his mind. Someone needed to fly the damn ship, or the warmth of his wife at his side would soon be for naught. Jumping into the seat, he ordered Martha "Doctor" Moore to start up the ECO's systems and with a blast, they were in the air. New Caprica faded below as stars came out in a blanket of silky black. Home was calling.


	19. Chapter 19

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**_ Chapter 19: The Dark and the Dawn_**

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Home.

Home, but as soon as the blackness of space took over their view, Laura knew something was wrong. Galactica was being battered by the Cylons, and Pegasus was nowhere in site.

"Colonial Transport. This is Col. Tigh. Jump coordinates to Pegasus coming through. Do you have the Adamas?" crackled Saul through the speakers. Laura felt her heart fly up in her throat, wanting to both cry and laugh at the voice of the cantankerous XO. She was actually happy to hear his voice, but glanced away from Bill's relieved face to look behind her, catching a hint of curly blond hair and sobering.

"Colonel, this is the Admiral. We're aboard. Saul, what the frak are you doing?!"

Silence.

"...Saving your asses. Go," Saul rasped back. Laura shivered. She knew that tone, had used it herself in commands and words of comfort just before almost dying. It was goodbye, and Bill knew it. He kept his face forward, but one of his hands entwined itself with hers. She squeezed back gently and lent towards the mic on the dashboard.

"Good hunting, Colonel."

"Thank you...," Saul's voice replied softly,"..Madam President."

An explosion ripped through the thin air of the outer atmosphere, jolting the raptor to one side, then the other. She heard Chief Tyrol grunt on impact and turned around just in time to see him give a weak thumbs up, one hand rubbing his skull.

"THE FRAK?!"

Laura turned back in her seat at the terror in Bill's voice. His hand was frozen over the jump prep relay, eyes focused on something in the deepening chasm out the canopy. Behind her, Chief and the ECO swore softly. When she followed Bill's vision, she couldn't help but let out a horrified scream. Pegasus had jumped into the fray, blocking the Galactica from the Cylon firing range. Lee, oh Gods, her stepson was on that ship. She felt the hand in hers tighten in fear.

"Lee?! Gods damnit, Commander Adama!" Bill shouted over the free channel.

"All vipers, head to Galatica. I repeat, all vipers to Galactica. Get the frak out of here!"

Bill readjusted their flight path towards Galactica almost immediately, pilot's skills overriding the fear Laura felt in her own heart. Kara was Gods knew where, possibly lost to them, and now...

"I hope he has a plan," whispered Tyrol.

She pretended she didn't hear it. Her eyes were only for Pegasus and Lee since Bill's could not be. Her mind could barely focus, so unreal was everything around her. Not more than twelve minutes ago she'd been sobbing into Tyrol's shirt thinking her husband was dead, then she found her former adversary-turned-friend was dead in his place, and now she was somehow rescued from certain death under Cylon hands but facing the death of her stepson and daughter-in-law. Dee would not leave her husband anymore than Laura had been willing to leave even what she thought was her husband's corpse.

"Lords of Kobol..," she said softly," grant me the miracle of your love and deliver my children home. If ever I've done right by you, please..."

Galactica swam into view, growing closer and closer. Bill got back on the horn to CIC and Saul, receiving instructions. They were going to "come in hot", which immediately sent a whole different ill feeling through Laura. Gods, she hated combat landings. Everyone but Kara and Lee always seemed to walk funny or look like they'd gone on a drinking binge after one, and she herself had had one such experience. She looked to Bill, seeking some sort of comfort, but all she saw was Husker in his place. The dedicated viper jock was completely in command, her husband and Admiral in whatever distant recess he'd sent the father in him.

"I've got the ball, Galactica. Coming in," he said, voice as controlled as it had ever been.

"Rodger, Husker, you're all clear."

She gripped the armrest as they bolted for Galactica, grimacing when they hit the deck. The sound of metal screeching nearly rendered her deaf, crying and groaning even with Bill at the controls. Finally they limped onto the raptor-sized elevator and were transported into the bright lights of the flight deck. Laura blinked, clearing her vision. For a moment all she could do was greedily take in every detail of her beloved home. But a sudden pulling sensation behind her navel told her they were jumping, and a fresh wave of anxiety over Lee and the Pegasus's return bubbled up in her as the feeling of being flushed down a pipe abated.

She scrambled out of her harness almost faster than Bill and hit the door release. She could hear the murmurings of other people outside go silent.

When the door opened, the first person she saw was Saul Tigh. He beamed at her and held out a hand. Around him, crew and civilians were realizing who was among them. They began to cheer wildly, people from every colony and walk of life suddenly dropping their pained expressions and screaming so loud that the sound seemed to vibrate through the floor. It went even wilder when Bill's form ambled down beside her.

"Bill, Laura," Tigh said, pulling them both into an embrace. Laura smiled into her friend's shoulder, but the sound of Tyrol clearing his throat sobered her quickly. She bumped Bill backwards to cover the hatch of the raptor and took the Colonel's hands.

"Saul....not everyone made it," she said softly, moving beside him to look up at the raptor. People around them seemed to catch her look, for a faint mummer of worry ran among the ever increasing crowd. Bill nodded down at them and, turning his back to them, accepted Ellen's body in his arms.

"She saved us all," her husband rumbled as he turned around with Ellen gently cradled in his arms. Saul's cry silenced the closest survivors and Laura had to quickly wrap her free arm around his waist to prevent him from sinking to the floor.

"Go find out about Lee, Bill. I'll take care of him."

Bill nodded. Both he and Tyrol hit the deck, laying Ellen down before her widower. Bill paused to lay a comforting hand on Saul's shoulders before being folded into the crowd.

"Ellen," Saul croaked out. Laura could only give him a half hug as he crumbled, laying his head sideways on her shoulders. He said nothing else for what felt like a half an hour before a med team arrived to carry Ellen's body to the morgue. Finally he straightened, ignoring the looks of pity coming from the still celebrating crew and Fleet.

"Thank you, Laura," he whispered, so lightly she wasn't entirely certain she'd heard it, and was gone.

Laura Adama stood on the deck of her beloved home, face pleasant as crew and civilian alike came to shake her hand, to hug her or even kiss her cheek. She accepted each any every expression of joy—they'd earned it on that mudball—but felt relief when she finally managed to get out of the hanger bay and into the empty hall. It was then that she began to cry.


	20. Chapter 20

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_**Chapter 20: Daybreak **_

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_One week after Exodus_

Bill entered their quarters, muscles stiff and aching from the long shift in CIC—Saul was in no shape to be anything but a mourner, and would be for a long while—to find his wife sitting at their desk, eyes downcast with an official looking document in her hands. She paid no mind to him, even after the hatch had shut with a loud slam as he locked it.

He walked towards her, eyes locked on the paper he had half expected the day of the Exodus. Laura sighed and turned it right side up for him to read, not daring to speak until he'd read it all. A lump formed in his throat as the words _needs of the Fleet_ crossed his vision. He fought down a tide of anger as he read on. He wanted to fly over to Colonial One himself and tell them where to shove their official documents and their needs.

"Are you considering it?" he asked.

"Of course. I'm considering every possible option."

Something tightened in his chest. Every option. Any option she could be contemplating would kill her inside.

"And..?" he ventured again. She looked up at him, eyes red and tears threatening to continue misting over her green eyes. Her thoughts were the same as his own, no doubt.

"I stay away, Tom takes over. For anything we went through together, I can't forget what he once was. I go back....I got back and I lose my husband only to turn around and work with his as my Admiral."

He'd though if he kept the words in his head that eventually the idea of being forced to divorce her wouldn't hurt so much when it was spoken. But he still gave a muffled sob, sinking into the chair opposite her and grasping both her hands in his. Their eyes locked.

She was so beautiful, his wife. The thought that he'd loose her only to see her everyday was unacceptable. But it was selfish, too.

"Coming down to it though...," Laura said, rising from her seat and placing one hand on his chest," I don't think they have the right, do they?"

He smiled weakly at her," no."

It wasn't a yes or a no, but it was something. The people really didn't have the right to force their hand, especially after abandoning her caution for a fool's dream. He picked up the letter and read, wrapping his free hand over Laura's warm little one. They really did want her back, just as Saul had warned him the day he'd decided to propose. The letter was barely professional, forcing a laugh up from his chest. He chuckled and put it down. Laura was looking at him like he'd lost it.

"How is this situation funny, Bill. You need to share with the rest of the class."

"That letter sounds like a five year old wrote it in school because they missed their mommy."

A small smile appeared on her face. He knew that smile, knew something he'd said had just given her an idea.

" Well if they're our children, I think we need to lay down some ground rules..."

The press room aboard Colonial One was covered in a silence so thick Laura was surprised anyone could still breath. The press sat on one side of the aisle, some of them with mouths open in shock. A few, she noticed with some amusement, looked every bit the children Bill had said they were.

On the other side, the Quorum was in a similar state of shock colored with the indignation only they could pull off. Delegate Cantrell alone was smiling at her. She winked at him.

"You can't be serious, Ma'am," Playa finally said. Laura turned on her, making Bill wince beside her. Playa just blinked irately.

"I have never joked about my former position, Playa. This is the only solution that can be mutually beneficial."

"Mada--" Delegate Porter said, but Laura's hand forestalled any attempt she was going to make to guilt her into backing down. That it was Sarah hurt. She had lost her husband in the initial attacks. That she of all people would try to pull Laura from hers...

"Would you have ever ended your marriage to Henry that way, Sarah?" she asked softly, painfully aware of the way Delegate Porter's body reacted. Her whole frame tensed, and her eyes flashed with hurt. But Laura couldn't bring herself to regret saying it. She needed to know how Laura was feeling, they all did.

"That's an obviously question, I know," Laura continued, leaving Sarah Porter staring at the floor with watery eyes," it should be obvious for anyone here married before the attacks or who has lost someone since," gently she reached back to her left and pulled at Bill's hand, forcing him to stand closer to her. He did so, putting a hand on her other shoulder. Their rings glinted in the artificial lights.

"I cannot be President again. My husband cannot simply hand command over to one of his officers. Colonel Tigh, as many of you know, is still recovering from his torture along with several others the Cylons targeted during their occupation of New Caprica. He has also repeatedly stated he would not take command. There is no other officer with enough experience besides Admiral Adama, plain and simple."

She took a breath, feeling the anxiety draining from her body. Speaking so frankly felt...good. And Bill's hand, warm and steady in hers reminded her on why she was not retaking the position she once held so dear. He was dearer.

"And I'm sorry to remind you all of this, but the right to demand anything of me went out the window the day I failed to prove why New Caprica was a mistake. I married as a citizen of the Twelve Colonies, not as President Roslin. The options I have given are the only ones on the table. Either try and not accuse every decision I make as being forced by the military or allow for a free election. I am Laura Adama now. That will be all," she turned away, Bill on one side and an agitated Tory Foster on the other, disappearing through the gray curtain and into the back room. Laura immediately turned around, throwing her arms around her husband's neck and sighing into the collar of his uniform. She couldn't form words for how strong she felt right them. Her own last words rang in her head, and she buried her face in the aged blue wool, enjoying the feeling of being held as his arms wrapped around her waist.

"I can't believe you just...told them all off. That was..."

Laura pulled away, smiling at Tory, who looked like a very satisfied cat," We've both wanted to do that for ages, I know. It felt good. It felt really good." She smiled as the girl broke into uncharacteristic giggles. In a moment the urge to laugh spread to her. When she finally regained control of herself, she found Bill smirking at the pair of them.

"Done, ladies?"

"Yes, sir," they chorused.

"What do we have now, Tory?" he asked her former aid. Tory straightened her back. Her clipboard appeared from Lords knew where as she began to speak.

"I've asked Fleet Wireless to announce for anyone of experience in law, politics, or high business office to come to Galactica, as she has the most room for a large body," here she looked up at Bill and he nodded his consent," good. Election ballots can be finished by the end of the week. Elections can take place next Tuesday."

Laura blinked, a bit stunned, but she smiled anyhow. She should have learned long ago that her aids had the uncanny ability to be one step ahead of her before the decision even entered her mind. Tory must have been ready for her speech before Bill had even inspired her to it.

"Thank you Tory. We'll await the announcements of candidates back home."

"Alright," Tory said as Laura tucked her arm into Bill's and turned to walk down the very stairs she remembered hurling herself down to come to Lee's aid," and ma'am?"

She and Bill turned back. Tory smiled shyly," thank you."

Laura felt a warm joy run along her chest at the simple thanks. No one save Bill, Lee, and Kara ever thanked her for anything.

"Glad for it Tory."

_One week later_

Laura stretched, snuggling back into the couch with a warm cup of tea between her fingers. Bill sat beside her, fiddling with the wireless on their coffee table. It finally crackled to life on the public Fleet Wireless and he sat back to listen in.

"....three candidates for final consideration. Captain Lee of the _Okato, _a former CEO of Tauron's Flight Xenith aerospace productions. Very well versed in mechanics. Tom Zarek, of course, current Vice President, is up for bat..."

Laura shifted at the sound of Tom's name. She meant what she'd said earlier. Nothing could ever dislodge Tom's past from her mind, even if he was trustworthy. She took a sip of tea and leaned back, smiling when she felt Bill move his arm to give her neck a pillow.

Serene. That was how she felt. Perfectly serene. After so much turmoil (and enough gray hairs to last her into the next life) it felt nice, if fragile. She was going to listen to the world right itself for once and enjoy it.

"...and then we have..well this is interesting. Bit of a hero, extensive military knowledge. Seems Lee Adama has decided to throw his tags in on this one."

Laura almost dropped the teacup.

Fin

(for now)

NOTE: I hope you enjoyed the ride. I may or may not continue at all or for a while. I just changed the entire show, after all! Would take a lot of plotting. ^_^ thanks for reading!


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